Saltholme Wildlife Reserve, RSPB – JDDK Architects
The Saltholme Wildlife Reserve and Discovery Park is a sustainably design visitor centre for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), by Jane Darbyshire & David Kendall Chartered Architects & Landscape Architects. The centre is located in the International Saltholme Nature Reserve, near Middlesborough, England.
“The energy strategy for the building is fully integrated with the architecture and reduces energy demand and carbon emissions through energy efficiency and passive design measures. There is no mechanical cooling, despite the large areas of glazing used for viewing the wildlife; detailed thermal modelling underpins a natural ventilation and cooling strategy, which relies on an efficient façade, solar shading, exposed thermal mass and the internal rammed earth wall, and a simple daytime and secure night-time natural ventilation routine. Excellent levels of daylight throughout the building will help to minimise the use of electric lighting.
Recycled and recyclable materials have been specified throughout the building and site, for example: recycled rubber tyre entrance matting, crushed masonry from the industrial buildings formally on the site as sub-base, concrete blocks with recycled aggregate, carpets made from recycled nylon, blast furnace slag (a by-product of the local steel industry) to car park and footpath surfaces, recyclable aluminium, steel and timber and all timber obtained from FSC approved sources. All paint and varnish finishes are solvent free, odourless and made from organic materials.
The completed building achieves a BREEAM Excellent rating. The building is innovative in the way it integrates these aspects and the way that the design purposefully expresses them in the completed building, forming an integral part of the visitor experience, alongside the striking setting and wildlife”, JDDK Architects
[JDDK Architects] [RSPB Saltholme Reserve]
