Buildings worth keeping. Building contractors in Cambridge, Suffolk and Norfolk since 1938

From the RIBA Stirling Prize-winning New Library at Magdalene College to Passivhaus homes and a listed theatre, we build, restore and decarbonise the buildings people intend to keep for generations.

Discuss your project See our work

Or call our Mildenhall head office on 01638 713694

  • 1938 Building across East Anglia for 88 years
  • Stirling Prize Winner in 2022 with Magdalene’s New Library; Pembroke’s Mill Lane shortlisted for 2026
  • 7 colleges Cambridge colleges among our clients, from Magdalene to St John’s
  • ISO certified 9001 quality, 14001 environment and 45001 health and safety, UKAS accredited
The New Library at Magdalene College, Cambridge, at dusk: brick chimneys and three gables lit warm from within against a deep blue sky
The New Library, Magdalene College, Cambridge. Níall McLaughlin Architects for Magdalene College; built by Cocksedge and completed in March 2021.

Trusted by

  • Magdalene College
  • Pembroke College
  • St John’s College
  • Gonville & Caius College
  • Jesus College
  • Clare College
  • Girton College
  • Gresham’s School
  • Cambridge Arts Theatre
  • University of East Anglia
  • Norfolk County Council
  • Flagship Homes
  • YMCA Norfolk
The New Library at Magdalene College by day: a brick front with tall chimneys between timber gables
A reading room in the New Library with timber shelves and tall glazed gable windows
The New Library by day, and the Crausaz Wordsworth reading room under one of its twelve timber lanterns.

RIBA Stirling Prize 2022

250,000 handmade bricks. 75 special shapes. One Stirling Prize.

The New Library at Magdalene College sits beside the Grade I listed Pepys Library. We worked with Níall McLaughlin Architects and The York Handmade Brick Company on a blend of three brick types in four tones, then built in brick, oak and exposed timber under twelve glazed lanterns.

Client
Magdalene College, University of Cambridge
Architect
Níall McLaughlin Architects
Value
About £11 million
Completed
March 2021

“Julian is that rarest of site managers and he played a pivotal role in the successful delivery of the Magdalene College library. You could not ask for a better site manager.”

Tim Allen-Booth, Associate, Níall McLaughlin Architects, on our site manager Julian Redpath
Read the New Library case study (opens in a new tab)
  • 2022 RIBA Stirling Prize The New Library, Magdalene College. Also a RIBA National Award, a Civic Trust Award and Wood Awards Gold.
  • 2026 RIBA National Award Mill Lane, Pembroke College: also RIBA East Building of the Year and a place on the 2026 Stirling Prize shortlist.
  • 2026 Greater Cambridge Design and Construction Awards Best Conservation and the Craftsmanship Award for the Arts Theatre; Best New Neighbourhood for Hinsley Lane.
  • 2025 Passivhaus certified Hinsley Lane for St John’s College: 39 townhouses and 245 study bedrooms, certified after completion.

What we build

Six kinds of building. One standard.

We work as main contractor across Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Norfolk and Essex, on traditional and design and build contracts, from a £1.4m community hub to Pembroke College’s Mill Lane, a contract of more than £35m.

  • A brick gateway into a landscaped court at Pembroke College’s Mill Lane

    Colleges and universities

    Courts, chapels, libraries and graduate rooms for seven Cambridge colleges, often while students and fellows carry on around us.

    Recent: Magdalene, Pembroke, St John’s, Gonville & Caius

    College projects (opens in a new tab)
  • The remodelled Reith Building at Gresham’s School, Holt, in brick with tall new windows

    Schools

    New primary schools and nurseries, and careful remodelling of independent schools, planned around the school year.

    Recent: Gresham’s School, Greenpark Academy, Coupals Primary

    School projects (opens in a new tab)
  • A Passivhaus townhouse terrace at Hinsley Lane in red brick with tall chimneys

    Homes

    Design and build homes for housing providers, councils and colleges, from bungalows to Passivhaus terraces.

    Recent: Hinsley Lane, The Fields, Sunmead, Burton Cove

    Housing projects (opens in a new tab)
  • The new Peas Hill entrance of the Arts Theatre, Cambridge, lit at dusk with passers-by

    Heritage and refurbishment

    Grade I and II listed buildings repaired, remodelled and taken off gas, without losing what made them worth keeping.

    Recent: Arts Theatre, Aston Webb Building, Clare College

    Refurbishment projects (opens in a new tab)
  • The YMCA Norfolk community hub in Norwich, a remodelled brick hall with a new glazed front

    Community, sport and leisure

    Community hubs, sports buildings and a college boathouse, built with the people who will run them.

    Recent: YMCA Community Hub, The Nest, Hauxton Community Hub

    Community projects (opens in a new tab)
  • Aerial view of the KMG Systems factory extension at Gamlingay with its blue clad roof

    Commercial, industrial and health

    Factory extensions, hospital works and offices, with mechanical and electrical work by ABS, our building services division.

    Recent: KMG Systems, North Cambridgeshire Hospital, UEA

    Commercial projects (opens in a new tab)

Selected work

Recent work, close to home.

A selection from our 37 case studies. Choose a sector, then open any project for the full story, drawings of the detail and the people involved.

Show projects for

All 37 case studies on our current website (opens in a new tab)

How we work

What we keep to.

A building is only worth keeping if it is built properly. Five promises run through every project, and our clients’ own words show whether we keep them.

The former Emmanuel church at Mill Lane, now Pembroke College’s auditorium, under its timber roof
Pembroke College’s new auditorium in the former Emmanuel United Reformed Church (1874).
  1. 01

    Keep the place running

    Colleges, schools, theatres and factories rarely close for us. We plan access, deliveries and noise around the people who use them, from a live hospital site in Wisbech to a factory that stayed fully operational in Gamlingay.

    The Arts Theatre: judges were “astonished” it was refurbished “with minimal impact or disturbance (not even skips!) to its neighbours.” Greater Cambridge Design and Construction Awards 2026.

  2. 02

    Keep the character

    Listed buildings need traditional craft as much as modern methods. At Clare College our own trades relaid the Grade I Old Court roofs in Collyweston stone slate; at Mill Lane we reused historic brick and timber.

    Mill Lane, Pembroke College: RIBA East Conservation Award 2026 and a Civic Trust Award 2026.

  3. 03

    Keep the carbon down

    Hinsley Lane is certified Passivhaus. Mill Lane runs with no fossil fuels. On Market Hill we put heat pumps on a roof so Gonville & Caius could take its Old Courts off gas. Our own target is carbon neutrality by 2030.

    Hinsley Lane: Best New Neighbourhood, Greater Cambridge Design and Construction Awards 2026.

  4. 04

    Keep the same people

    Clients see the same contracts manager, cost manager and site team from one project to the next. Julian Redpath joined us as a bricklayer more than 20 years ago and went on to run the New Library site.

    Gonville & Caius estates manager: “Continuity of personnel also plays a crucial role… ultimately saving the College both time and money.”

  5. 05

    Keep everyone safe

    Our integrated management system is certified to ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001 by a UKAS-accredited body, and our sites have mental health first aiders and wellbeing clinics for the supply chain.

    St Regis, Clare College: a Cambridge City Council Certificate of Excellence as a considerate contractor.

A crane lifting a heat pump unit at night over Market Hill, Cambridge, with Great St Mary’s church and the market stalls below

St Michael’s Court, Gonville & Caius College

Heat pumps over Market Hill, after dark.

To take the College’s Old Courts and St Michael’s Court off gas, we adapted the flat roof of the Murray Easton Building to carry air source heat pumps and lifted them into place over the market, beside Great St Mary’s. Grade I and II listed buildings stayed intact; Cambridge kept trading.

See how the St Michael’s Court project worked (opens in a new tab)

Working with us

From first conversation to handover.

Whether you bring us a sketch, a tender pack or a building that needs saving, you get the same team and the same straight answers on cost and programme.

  1. 1

    Talk to us early

    Tell us about your site, budget and timescale. We will tell you plainly what is achievable, and how we would approach it.

  2. 2

    Pre-construction

    Our pre-construction team works with your architect and engineers on buildability, cost and sequencing, so the design reaches site intact.

  3. 3

    On site

    A named site manager, contracts manager and cost manager see your project through, with neighbours and occupants kept informed.

  4. 4

    Handover and after

    Homes and buildings are snagged before you inspect them, handed over complete, and we stay close for whatever comes next.

Ways we work

  • Design and build
  • Traditional contracts
  • Two-stage tenders
  • Norfolk County Council frameworks
  • Live and listed buildings
  • M&E by ABS Building Services

Where we build

Built close to where we live.

Offices in Mildenhall, Cambridge and Norwich keep our teams, and our supply chain of local firms, within easy reach of every site.

  • Cambridge 19 miles
  • King’s Lynn 28 miles
  • Norwich 38 miles
  • Holt 45 miles
  • Latchingdon 48 miles
  • Bacton 53 miles
  • Caister-on-Sea 55 miles
Where we buildA plan centred on the Mildenhall head office with rings at 20, 40 and 60 miles. The Cambridge office is 19 miles south west and the Norwich office 41 miles north east. Pins mark 19 places with Cocksedge projects, 17 of them within 50 miles; the furthest is Caister-on-Sea at 55 miles. Pins without a name: Norwich, Great Plumstead, Scarning, Waterbeach.
Straight-line distances from our Mildenhall head office to places named in our case studies and news. 17 of these 19 places are within 50 miles.

Our story

Eighty-eight years of building East Anglia.

Cocksedge began in Suffolk in 1938. Today we are a regional main contractor with our own building services division, working for colleges, schools, housing providers, councils and businesses, and still answering the phone in Mildenhall.

“Cocksedge are team players, and I continue to be impressed with how they have worked with the design team and myself, as the Client, to offer up constructive ideas to deliver the project, as well as to help keep it on programme and within budget.”

Estates and Site Operations Manager, Gresham’s School, Holt
  1. 1938

    Founded in Suffolk. The business that became Cocksedge Building Contractors starts work.

  2. 2021

    The New Library completes at Magdalene College, Cambridge.

  3. 2022

    RIBA Stirling Prize for the New Library, and a plan to reach carbon neutrality by 2030.

  4. 2023

    85 years. Julian Redpath is named Site Manager of the Year in the Greater Cambridge awards.

  5. 2025

    Hinsley Lane is certified Passivhaus, and Mill Lane completes for Pembroke College.

  6. 2026

    A Cambridge office opens and Mill Lane is shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize.

Accredited and audited

ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001 (UKAS accredited), CHAS and Constructionline.

  • UKAS management systems and Auva ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 certified
  • CHAS accredited contractor
  • Constructionline

News

From our sites

All news (opens in a new tab)

Questions

Questions clients ask us first.

If yours is not here, call the Mildenhall office or send it with your enquiry.

What size of project do you take on?

Our recent projects run from refurbishments of around £1.5 million, such as Girton College’s porters’ lodge and the YMCA hub in Norwich, to Pembroke College’s Mill Lane, a contract of more than £35 million. If you are not sure whether your project fits, call us and ask.

Where do you work?

Mainly in Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Norfolk and north Essex, from offices in Mildenhall, Cambridge and Norwich. Recent sites include central Cambridge, Holt, Bacton, Caister-on-Sea, Wisbech and Latchingdon.

Do you work on listed buildings?

Yes, often. Recent examples include Clare College’s Grade I listed Old Court, Girton College’s Grade I porters’ lodge, the Grade II listed Arts Theatre and Aston Webb Building, and the Grade II listed Lasdun Teaching Wall at the University of East Anglia. Sensitive work goes to our directly employed trades with conservation experience.

Can our building stay open while you work?

Usually, yes. We have worked in live colleges with noise and access limits, kept a factory fully operational at Gamlingay, and kept hospital access open at Wisbech. We agree phasing, access and working hours with you before we start.

Do you offer design and build?

Yes. Mill Lane for Pembroke College and Hinsley Lane for St John’s College were both design and build, as are our housing schemes for providers such as Flagship Homes and Myriad Homes. We also build on traditional contracts, through two-stage tenders, as at Greenpark Academy, and through Norfolk County Council’s construction frameworks.

Can you build to Passivhaus or net zero standards?

Yes. Hinsley Lane is certified Passivhaus, Mill Lane was designed and delivered to BREEAM Excellent with no fossil fuels on site, and our recent homes use air source heat pumps and solar panels.

Which accreditations do you hold?

Our integrated management system is certified to ISO 9001 (quality), ISO 14001 (environment) and ISO 45001 (health and safety) by a UKAS-accredited body. We are also CHAS accredited and registered with Constructionline.

How do we add you to a tender list?

Use the form below and choose “Invite us to tender”, or email enquiries@cocksedge.com with the project, the tender dates and who to contact. We will reply with our pre-qualification details.

Start a conversation

Let’s build something worth keeping.

Tell us about your project, at any stage. Three short steps, about a minute, and it goes straight to our team in Mildenhall.

01638 713694 enquiries@cocksedge.com
  • Main contractor since 1938
  • Offices in Mildenhall, Cambridge and Norwich
  • ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001 certified
  • Your details are only used to reply to you

Mildenhall head office

25 Hampstead Avenue, Mildenhall
Suffolk IP28 7AS
01638 713694

Cambridge office

The Quad, 9 Journey Campus, Castle Park
Cambridge CB3 0AX

Norwich office

11 Meridian Way, Meridian Business Park
Norwich NR7 0TA
01603 432121

Tell us about your project

Step 1 of 3

What would you like to do?
What kind of building?
Where is the project now?

No obligation. Three short steps.

Buildings worth keeping start with a conversation.

Call our Mildenhall head office or send your project details, and the right person will come back to you.

Discuss your project 01638 713694