PROJECT:

The design and delivery of a new exemplary sustainable low-carbon project to provide a new community hub, featuring a new cafe, Kitchen, WCs and conference / community teaching hall space.

The new Woodland Community Centre was designed to meet three aims;

• To demonstrate sustainable building materials and passive design strategies

• To enable trainees to develop practical construction skills and health and safety experience

• To provide an exemplar centre for community events, business meetings, conferences and visitors to the site in a unique and sustainable setting.

This project was developed in collaboration with the University of Lincoln 2nd year Design Studio and a Knowledge Transfer Partnership led by Dr Behzad Sodagar provided the concept design in 2006. Simons provided pro-bono architectural services, and Professor John Chiltern of Lincoln University provided engineering consultancy to the project.

Resource use is intentionally very low carbon using local materials; rammed earth walls, Hemlock split cladding roundwood structural timber drawn from the forests managed by Hill Holt Wood and seasoned on site, timber shingles hand split on site and a floor mosaic created by local arts group. Innovative materials; Limecrete foundations using aggregate from the nearby quarry (at the time it was the largest reinforced casting in England) and multilayer foil insulation. Recycled materials; insulation from plastic bottles used in pitched roofs, recycled plastic slate effect roof tiles. Renewable materials; Cork insulation to flat roofs and some walls, PEFC certified engineered timber structure to the office which uses thinnings from forestry management to create beams and studs, timber windows and doors, Gluelam structural beams fabricated in Hull and roundwood off-cuts have been used for low energy light fittings in the café area.

Hill Holt Wood is operated as a social enterprise, and the project was part funded by WREN, EMDA and Lincolnshire Enterprise (£250,000). The budget was managed internally by Hill Holt Wood project managers as a self build project. All trade contractors had individual contracts, however many of the learners experienced new construction skills by working on the building.

Hill Holt Wood has become an exemplar for sustainable forest management and education, winning the 2009 Lord Stafford Award for Innovation for Sustainability Green Apple Award Housing Associations Green Apple Award for The Built Environment, Green Champion 2009 and Green Apple Champion of Champions Award 2009 before this building was completed and shortlisted for the Building Magazine Sustainability Awards projects under £10million category in 2010.