Industrial Origins
Our design’s approach for a new ‘Nature and Wellbeing Centre’ at Sevenoaks Nature Reserve is derived from the reserve’s industrial origins and subsequent conservation interventions. Like the way that the pit was the remnant of the industrial infrastructure that formed the basis of the reservoir that now thrives with nature. Our design for the new centre is conceived as a ‘new remnant’ of the site’s industrial infrastructure that will invite natural and human inhabitation.
A ‘New’ Remnant
The building’s fabric is a home for birds, insects, plants and the wider woodland ecosystem. The ‘new’ remnant is an inhabited spine wall around which the building’s spaces are arranged like hides to look out into the landscape from. The ‘inhabited spine’ intersects the main route into the reserve, creating a logical welcome and departure point for any visit to the site. The centre offers views across the west lake allowing the centre to take advantage of the site’s natural features.