Earth Trust Centre, Oxfordshire
Education Development
Services: Landscape Design and Building with Nature
The Landmark Practice is involved in the site-wide enhancements to the Earth Trust Centre in Oxfordshire. The Trust is expanding its visitor and educational attractions which include a new Earth Lab, renovated Café, car parking and improvements to the site wide visitor experience. Landmark’s Landscape Architecture team has been working alongside the architects, drainage engineers and the client to create a landscape led project that will be an excellent visitor and learning resource for all to enjoy.
The landscape proposal includes a variety of spaces such as a multi-functional amphitheatre, nature learning gardens, heritage areas with roundhouses, play features, an animal experience zone, extensive wildflower meadows and arrival space with interpretation. All these spaces are set within swathes of new woodland planting and a series of swales (sustainable drainage features) which flow from the main centre down along the new access road.
The site is influenced by numerous local landscape designations and is archaeologically rich; landscape interventions, including planting, are located over land which has been subject to archaeological digs. The approach to site design has given careful consideration to these sensitivities and the arrangement of features is informed by findings such as a Roman Villa and evidence of a Roundhouse.
Client Benefits
As a landscape led scheme, Landmark has provided the client with a holistic design approach focussing delivery of multi-functional benefits by each of the landscape interventions, such as enhancements to biodiversity and provision of a range of learning resources.
Ultimately The Earth Trust is targeting accreditation with a Building with Nature (BwN) ‘Design Award’ and as such Landmark’s BwN assessors have provided advice from project inception on measures to integrate BwN standards throughout the scheme.
Working with:
Architects: Agile Design
Civil Engineer: Curtins
