Nature & Wellbeing Centre, Kent

An immersive riparian experience

Background

e-gg submitted a proposal for a new development at the Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve in Kent. The reserve was created by local doctor and naturalist Jeffery Harrison from the remains of an industrial site and is the UK’s first example of such a conversion of a gravelpit. It is almost entirely manmade, with trees planted by hand and lakes created by excavating and flooding former gravel workings with water from the River Darent.

Located in a riparian zone, the new Nature & Wellbeing Centre will be the gateway to the reserve and the flagship visitor centre for Kent Wildlife Trust, offering key messaging around nature, health and wellbeing.

Client:
Kent Wildlife Trust
Status
Proposal
Vision

Inspired by the riparian zone of the riverbank – where trees provide shelter and shade, leaves provide food and roots absorb and cleanse – the Nature & Wellbeing Centre is designed as a clearing in the woods. An active timber canopy harvests natural resource to provide the nutrients necessary to sustain a range of uses housed in separate buildings below. Separating the canopy from the building programmes allows for the spaces below to be flexible and easily reconfigured. The plan shown here is just one of any number of potential resolutions, and includes a reception area and retail space, a café, a multi-purpose studio space, and a dynamic space for exhibitions and education.

The glulam canopy is supported on pre-cast concrete piles that are driven into the substrate to minimise ground works and limit embodied carbon. Intermittent bracing walls bring low-carbon servicing from the canopy to the buildings beneath.

Externally, we have retained the existing warden’s cottage and relocated the viewing platform, with additional outdoor garden space for contemplation with the riparian ecosystem.

Riparian / r^IˈpE :rÌən/ : relating to wetlands adjacent to rivers and streams

Riparian zones – wetlands adjacent to rivers and streams – are important natural biofilters, protecting aquatic environments from excessive sedimentation, polluted surface runoff and erosion. They supply shelter and food for many aquatic animals, and shade that limits stream temperature change. They can also play a role in lowering nitrate contamination in surface runoff that would otherwise damage ecosystems and human health.