Cuerden Valley Park Visitors Centre

 

Location: Cuerden Valley Park, Bamber Bridge, Preston
Timeframe: Completed June 2018
Cost: £400,000
Our Involvement: Concept design, Planning, Building Regulations and Construction drawings
Floor area: Internal area 238m2, external area including decking 385m2
Construction Method: Hybrid of Loadbearing Strawbale walls and timber frame.

This project was conducted under our previous trading name, Straw Works. It was overseen by Project Manager John Stainton and built by volunteers of the Cuerden Valley Park Trust with courses run by the School of Natural Building (SNaB) for carpentry, car tyre foundations, straw bale walls, lime rendering and cedar shingling.

The roof is covered in cedar shingles – with the rear section mono pitch and the front section forming a curved roof. Where the two join, clerestory windows provide natural daylighting into the corridor below. A curved glazed screen forms the front elevation, with a raised decking area overlooking the fantastic views of the parkland.

It is the first Living Building Challenge (LBC) registered building in the UK. The LBC is the built environment’s most rigorous performance standard.  It calls for the creation of building projects at all scales that operate as cleanly, beautifully and efficiently as nature’s architecture.

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