Greenhead Moss Community Nature Park Visitors Centre: Design Services

This building will have a turf roof, biomass boiler, wind turbine, natural stack ventilation and other environmentally friendly features.

Greenhead Moss Community Nature Park, on the outskirts of Wishaw and overlooking the Clyde Valley, represents a unique example of a community driven land restoration project to establish and conserve important wildlife habitats and species and develop an accessible, sustainable and valued community resource.a unique example of a community driven land restoration project  Key to achieving this aim is the provision of an environmental education facility for local schools and the community in general.

The Greenhead Moss Community Trust approached North Lanarkshire Council's Design Services Division with aspirations to build such a facility on Greenhead Moss using reclaimed and recycled materials (old car tyres, glass bottles etc) thereby reflecting its former use as a landfill site. However, as the building is intended to be used by school and community groups alike, it soon became clear that these particular materials would be unsuitable for a building of this type. Taking this into account a new building was designed to meet the aspirations of the Client whilst following stringent building standards and issues of practicality. Key to the design are the following elements.

• Orientation and shape of the building
• Use of natural or reclaimed materials
• Thermal mass and stack effect
• Sustainable energy sources (biomass, solar and wind)

The building, whilst being a little unusual and somewhat experimental, has a clear solar/thermal strategy and makes use of natural ventilation thereby minimising the requirement for artificial input. From the outset, the Client wanted to build a structure, which not only placed sustainability at the heart of the design but also looked good in the context of the Nature Park and minimised impact on this environmentally important site.

The shape of the building evokes thoughts of ancient cairns or burial mounds and its location at the highest point of the site provides opportunities for viewing. It can also be used as a landmark. With regard to the solar strategy, the glazed sections of the façade face directly due south to maximise solar input whilst the entire building is enclosed by a grass covered semi-circular rammed earth berm. The cross section of the building reveals the true secret of the solar and ventilation strategies. As sunlight enters the building, heat is absorbed by the solid floor mass throughout the day, which is then emitted later at night. The building is also naturally ventilated. Fresh air enters via a continuos floor grille on the south elevation and is drawn though the building and expelled at high level by stack effect. A biomass boiler is used to heat the air entering the building in winter, whilst the shallow pool provides a degree of cooling during the summer. The boiler will also provide underfloor heating when required during the cold winter months.

In addition to these design features, solar photovoltaic and solar water heating panels are arranged within the semicircle of the roof to maximise solar gain. A 2.5 kW grill connected wind turbines will also utilise the potential of the site to gather free energy and excess energy will be exported to the national grid. Materials for the building were chosen to compliment the design within the context of the park. For example, the roof will be covered with wild grass and the walls will be of a local stone whilst reclaimed timber will be used elsewhere.

Planning permission has now been granted for this building and the Client is awaiting agreement on available funding prior to detailed work proceeding.