Proposal for a new development at the Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve in Kent.
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, with an active timber canopy that harvests natural resource to provide the nutrients necessary to sustain a range of uses housed in separate buildings below.
Low Carbon Low Waste Structure
Separating the canopy from the building programmes allows for the spaces below to be flexible and easily reconfigured. The plan shown herein is just one of any number of potential resolutions.
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.
Riparian / r^IˈpE :rÌən/ : relating to wetlands adjacent to rivers and streams
Riparian zones 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. In addition, they can play a role in lowering nitrate contamination in surface runoff, that would otherwise damage ecosystems and human health.
