Old meets new at 800-year old Leper Chapel

There are 21st century ideas in prospect for the 800 year old Leper Chapel in East Cambridge following a unique collaboration between Cambridge Past, Present and Future, and an Architecture student at the University of Cambridge. I found it very motivating that my dissertation was a real-life project, with utility and purpose, addressing genuine needs and serving a community" - —Spyridon Papavasileiou Often considered the oldest surviving building in Cambridge, the Leper Chapel has a long history that dates back to when it was known as the Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene and was at the centre of the Stourbridge Fair, the largest medieval fair in Europe. In its recent history, the chapel has been owned and lovingly maintained by Cambridge Past, Present and Future. The challenge of providing facilities for the community and heating this Grade 1 listed building prompted Cambridge Past, Present and Future to suggest a project via the University's Community Knowledge Exchange. In doing so, they sought to understand the possibility of using micro-generation of renewable energy on-site, in such a way that would be acceptable, given the constraints of the historic Grade 1 listed building. Spyridon Papavasileiou, an MPhil student at the Department of Architecture, devised a tool, which he named VisEnR, to correlate renewable energy yield to the visual impact on historic buildings. Using this tool, he investigated various methods of micro-generation, including photovoltaic cells, wind power and ground source heat pumps.