Located on St Andrews Street in Cambridge city centre, the renovation and conversion of a Grade II listed former police station – itself a Victorian redevelopment of stables on the site owned by Elizabethan philanthropist Thomas Hobson. Mr Hobson was revered within Cambridge for his underground infrastructure works within the city. One could rent horses from his stable, however clients could only take whichever horse was nearest to the door, effectively providing them with no choice at all. From this arose the phrase ‘Hobson’s Choice’. Glorious Victorian Gothic detail includes vaulted ceilings, arched windows, stained glass, highly detailed stonework and woodwork.

The redevelopment into a 56-room hotel, which includes an additional two floors on top of the listed building and demolition of part of the structure which had lesser importance. The courtyard, formerly used as a carpark, was enclosed to form a glass-roofed atrium which has become a lounge and restaurant. Central to that space is the life-size statue of a horse created from wrought iron by a local artist called John Goadby, a link to its former history.