Chard Robinson Developments recently held a corporate event for clients and investors to mark the completion and handover of The Newton, the company's brand new student accommodation scheme in Cambridge.

With all 23 studio and one-bedroom apartments selling off-plan, The Newton has set a new precedent for student accommodation in the city; each apartment boasts cleverly designed living spaces that bring together leisure, sleeping and study zones; an intelligent home automation system, monitored and controlled via touch-screens in each apartment, can be used to programme the en-suite shower rooms, contemporary kitchens, underfloor heating and video entry system.

Though brand new, the building incorporates elements of the original façade of the Fleur De Lys, a former Victorian free house that used to occupy The Newton’s corner plot on Humberstone Road and Elizabeth Way.

Guests at the event, held on-site at the end of last month, were treated to apartment tours, insight from Chard Robinson Developments’ directors (Stephen Chard and Neil Robinson) into how the development came to be, and an opportunity to discuss other current and future projects - all over a glass of champagne and imaginatively put-together canapés that included miniature beef Yorkshire puddings and shot glasses filled with a butternut squash velouté.

Said Neil: "With The Newton, we’ve tried to create a new future for student living, and we think it’s fair to say that we succeeded. Students now expect far better than the traditional bedsit of old."

The event's theme – wrapped around the object supposedly behind Isaac Newton's discovery of gravity – saw a giant ice sculpture of an apple core and shining green mountains of Granny Smiths add striking dashes of colour and flair to proceedings. Linking this to the company’s approach to the project, Neil continued: "We’re not comparing apples to apples – these are robust, technology-driven and environmentally-friendly living spaces that set themselves apart from existing units for this audience. We are confident that they will both meet the demands of their occupiers' 21st-Century lifestyles and stand the test of time."

Chard Robinson Developments-branded toffee apples were handed out to guests as they left, rounding off an exciting first milestone in the story of Cambridge's new ground-breaking student development.