News
September 10, 2008
NEW case study: Dalby Visitor Centre
Dalby Forest, managed by the Forestry Commission, is the largest forest in Yorkshire, attracting around 300,000 visitors a year. The new visitor centre by White Design Associates, is designed to sit lightly in the existing landscape and its orientation along the natural sight lines of the valley minimise its visual and physical impact.
The centre, recommended by the Centre for Accessible Environments, is designed to be accessible to everybody, including the disabled. The main public entrance - the ‘arrival courtyard' - faces the car park and its access to the main entrance foyer is all on one level and suitable for wheelchair use. All facilities, including restaurant, shop, toilets, community room and exhibition area, are accessible directly from the entrance foyer. The first floor balcony, also all on one level, can be reached via the main entrance foyer both by lift and staircase. By controlling access from the foyer space, all facilities can be operated separately when desired for evening events or during quiet periods.
The main structure consists of a pre-made glulam timber frame and prefabricated wall, floor and roof units, all of which are made from structural insulated panels (SIPs). This semi-prefabricated solution reduced time on site, site traffic and overall disruption.
The building sits on steel screw pile foundations, which reduce the amount of site excavation work needed and can be easily removed and recycled in the long term if required.
The building is clad externally in 100 x 25mm larch boards, grown and milled from the surrounding forests and fixed to 50 x 25mm larch battens. Some ceilings and walls internally are also clad with larch. The extensive use of timber enables the embodied energy and energy expended during construction to be dramatically reduced compared with a typical concrete and masonry building.
To view the case study click here
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