The Kindersley Centre at Sheepdrove Organic Farm, Berkshire, is an eco-friendly conference centre built in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Officially opened by The Prince of Wales in 2004, the building won the Sustainability Award in the 2005 Civic Trust Awards for environmental design. It was commissioned by the farm's owners, the publishers and environmental campaigners Peter and Juliet Kindersley, who saw its creation as a way of promoting organic farming and sustainability.
The Kindersley Centre offers a variety of meeting spaces on two floors. It also accommodates an organic kitchen and dining room, and the farm's offices and eco-friendly shop.
The main structure echoes the cruck frame of a long barn. Its nine-metre high Douglas fir arches are a spectacular feature of the main auditorium, as is the rammed earth wall running the length of the building.
Different ambiences for different spaces are achieved by using internal boarding of ash, Douglas fir and European softwood. Most of the building has oak flooring. The roof covering is of cedar shingles. The wall cladding is shiplap western red cedar. The projected eaves are stained softwood with painted ply soffits.
The Kindersley Centre's approach to sustainability concentrates on natural ventilation, responsible specification of materials, the use of recycled and local materials where practical, high thermal mass and energy-efficient building services.
Chalk reclaimed from the excavations was used to build the rammed earth wall, which provides high thermal mass. The ridge incorporates a bespoke full-length roof light, which also forms part of the building’s natural ventilation system.
All timber products used during construction came from responsibly managed and renewable sources, and from the UK where possible.
The specification of materials was informed by a study of the ‘embodied’ energy used in their manufacture. No PVC was used in the construction, electrical wiring, pipe work and flat roof membranes. The cubicles and sinks in the visitors’ cloakrooms are made largely from recycled plastic. Waterless urinals and aerating taps reduce water consumption.
Challenges and solutions
Before crane-lifting the timber arches into position, the Beard team had to design and build a complex scaffold structure that would be strong enough to hold them while they were bolted together.
The chalk mixture for the 450mm-thick rammed earth wall had to be prepared manually because it clogged both conventional and paddle cement mixers. We developed the mixture in test batches and applied it in 150mm-thick layers.
Planning the building programme took extra care because of the unusually long lead times for many of the sustainable materials specified in the design.
"Our vision was to get people onto the farm to experience natural farming systems at work, all the way from field to plate. This spectacular building provides an inspiring meeting space, which helps us to realise that vision."
