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Click to view map Coordinates: | The brief was to design a facility consisting of a number of functions which would serve the existing office parks of The Woodlands and Harrowdene which together accommodate over 5000 people. The project, which evolved as a group of linked buildings, includes a new traffic circle on the western services road at the east entrance, Gate House and Security, Change rooms and Service Yard, a Nursery School, Management Offices for Broll (who manage the Woodlands), a Restaurant, a Coffee Shop, a Gym and Wellness Center and 90 additional parking bays for various buildings within the Woodlands. It also included extra parking for the development itself. The nature of the site being a narrow strip of land against the boundary between 'The Woodlands' and 'Harrowdene', was such that the building naturally took the form of a linear development. The resultant group of buildings are among the first structures now visible when entering the "Woodlands". It was felt that the buildings needed to integrate with the landscape , to "hug" the slope and generally to present a gentle and unobtrusive form. The materials used were face brick, chosen for its low maintenance and mellow appearance. Concrete roof tiles, similar to those used in the adjacent buildings, were used in gentle roof pitches. Terraces on the north side provided spaces where the users could sit and relax and enjoy the landscape of the "Woodlands". These were roofed with flat roofs supported by a steel structure and pergola eyebrow on which creepers grow, emphasising the landscaped nature of the site. The steep gradient on the site meant that both the Nursery School and Retail portions of the development are built as a series of terraces which negotiate the slope and help to fragment what would be a fairly large single-storey structure. In order to minimise the impact of the many parking bays, landscaped berms were used. Gently vaulted roofs for the parking area cascade down the slope. With the exception of the Restaurant and Coffee Shop interiors were by Michael Scholes. (Michael Scholes) All truncated references not fully cited below are those of Joanna Walker's original text and cited in full in the 'Bibliography' entry of the Lexicon. |
