New House, British Wildlife Centre, Lingfield

Constructed within the confines of The British Wildlife Centre in Lingfield, Surrey the new house was required to provide a constant presence on site for both security and animal welfare. Thus the sighting of the building needed to be carefully considered in order to adequately fulfill such a brief.

As a result the building was located on a raised peninsula of land addressing the main parkland area. Such an exposed location required the new building to sit sympathetically with its surroundings so a mixture of green oak, cedar shingles and waney edge board for cladding was employed.

The buildings mass was minimised by housing the first floor within the generous rake of the main roof to the rear of the building, whilst also providing a gallery to the living spaces below supported off the main box frame.

The main living space is segregated from the rest of the ground floor via a change in level, to help define the main rooms without the need to partition with full height walls which would reduce the amount of natural light enjoyed within the structure.

The views of the park are enjoyed via fully glazed double door sets on the primary elevations that open onto a large timber deck.

Copyright of images 2, 3, 4 and 5 owned by C. Ansett, Discovery Real Time