Our new resource centre with cafe and meeting rooms is scheduled for completion in 2010. We wanted a building that would echo the contours of the surrounding hills and blend in with its landscape. Although we love our original, traditional farm buildings, we didn’t want to create a copy of buildings of the past or a heritage piece. We wanted something that makes use of local materials and building traditions but that would also be visionary, exciting and innovative. Our concept was ‘contemporary rural’. We also wanted it to be low carbon in its construction and running and built to last. We invited two local artists, Chris Stephens from Kirkby Lonsdale and Gwenda Meredith from Lancaster, to interpret and illustrate our vision. Local architects were invited to develop their proposals and we chose Thomas Associates to produce the final plans. Work began at the end of 2008 and is being documented in our BLOG.
The building will have curved walls and a westmoreland slate roof. It incorporates natural forms and materials such as our own stone and timber, much of it reclaimed, straw bale walls and lime render, and has a soft and weathered finish. The central atrium features a working overshot waterwheel powered by run-off from our fishing lake and contributing to the electricity needs of the cafe. Underfloor heating and hot water will be powered by air source heat pump, solar thermal and with woodburning stoves, using our own logs, as back up. Outdoor seating areas look onto the River Conder, lake and golf course. The two outer columns will incorporate roosting area for bats and nest boxes for swifts and swallows. We are working with conservation groups on their design.
An artists impression of the building
