Visitor Centre in Epsom

Epsom, Surrey, UK

Year: 2015, Status: Proposal

exterior view of the pavilion — Exterior – A timber and brick pavilion

Aerial view of the pavilion with people on the roof — Roof as a viewing platform

A 300m2 visitor hub for England’s First World War Centenary Wood on the 260 hectare site, owned and managed by the client The Woodland Trust. The brief sought ‘An inspiring and sustainable building that is both integral to the landscape and has a character in tune with the project’s aims and client’s objectives’.

Our design was an ‘ecological tree stump’ building which has a compact plan footprint close to a circular shape for sustainability. Room shapes are also near circular and form a cluster of bubbles, which can be easily adjusted during the design stage when area requirements of each room are defined more accurately, when the design brief develops.

The building is naturally ventilated through the ventilation turrets on the roof. Visitors are able to go up the timber-decked roof to observe the surrounding meadows and woodlands.

Approach view — Approach to the pavilion

Plan and Section; Natural ventilation through staircase and ventilation turrets — Plan and Section: natural ventilation through staircase and turrets

diagram01: Compact Plan — Diagram01: Compact plan — less perimeter = less energy for cliemate control

diagram02: Proportional Rooms — Diagram02: Proportional rooms — proportional room shapes = functional with sunlight and natural ventilation

diagram03: Adaptable design algorithm — Diagram03: Adaptable design algorithm = Flexible design with an algorithm — adaptable with changing brief

designing = coding — The design process was also an iterative coding process using Java Programming Language.