The new visitor centre on a wildlife research farm at Loddington in Leicestershire, England, is regarded as being one of the most environmentally friendly buildings in the country and has won the prestigious 2012 Property and Construction Award for sustainable development.
Owned by leading research charity, the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT), the new visitor and training centre on the GWCT’s Allerton Project farm has been converted using materials sourced from the fields of its farm.
Straw was used for the walls, sheep fleece for insulation, wood chips from the estate fuels the biomass boiler and rainwater is harvested and used for toilets and showers. In addition sixteen solar photovoltaic panels on the roof generate electricity, with excess sold onto the grid and barn owl boxes and bat boxes strategically positioned in the roof ensure that wildlife also thrive from this new eco-building. To complete this award winning project, the car park and fencing materials are constructed from recycled silage plastic.
‘Increasing interest in our research has meant that we are now hosting a large number of training sessions for farmers and policy makers on environmental issues as well as organising local community events,’ said Alastair Leake, director of policy with the GWCT.
‘Our previous visitor centre could not cope with this growing demand. In keeping with our ecological approach to land management we sought to design a building which was constructed using ‘green’ materials, whilst still offering state of the art technology, a requirement of any modern business,’ he added.
At the start of the project Leake was assisted by the charity Pro-Help who helped secure pro bono expert help with drawing up plans and obtaining planning consent. A 60% grant towards the construction of the £405,000 building was then obtained through the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE).
The challenge of creating such an innovative design was given to architect Sylvester Cheung, from Parkinson, Dodson and Cheung. ‘The GWCT’s Allerton Project was certainly a challenge. However, there was valuable knowledge gained throughout. This was an educational vision which resulted in an inspiring architectural project, embracing professional and community involvement to sourcing of materials, all showing that investment in our countryside need not be neglected and sustainable rural developments are achievable,’ said Cheung.
