Romney Marsh Visitor Centre

Project type: Non-Residential
Project location: Nr. New Romney, Kent UK

The Romney Marsh landscape, host to fields of grain and Dungeness beach cobbles, is bounded by chalk cliffs to the east and Wealden forests to the north. The architectural aim of the Romney Marsh Visitors Centre was to fuse these material hinterlands into a discernible tectonic language affording the resultant building with a strong sense of provenance and geographical belonging.

This award-winning project served as an exemplar of how to minimise a building’s impact on the environment by using resource mapping to source minimally processed materials close to the site and in effect, making the building a ‘material store’. It pursued a deconstruct/reconstruct ethos with almost every constituent part being capable of simple disassembly and thereby optimising reuse potential for future generations. It fused bio-based/ renewable materials like Romney Marsh-grown straw bales and Wealden-harvested larch and hazel with beach shingle from a few kilometres away at Lydd. The lime wash and render encapsulated the undulating surfaces of the straw bales walls and became an abstracted reminder of the chalk landscapes further afield.

Design strategies included:

use of sequestered carbon materials such as Wealden-grown larch for the primary structure, Romney Marsh straw bales for the outer walls with hazel dowels;
hydraulic lime render applied to the straw bales both inside and outside;
compacted M20 scalpings used to create a stable sub-base for the floor;
reclaimed municipal precast concrete paving slabs lose laid to form the internal floor finish;
local Dungeness beach shingle used in specially modified gabion cages to form a skirt wall around the building’s perimeter;
site-cast reusable concrete sockets to form the base of the timber frame;
a separate pre-fabricated timber frame cabin, pre-plumbed for the WC and kitchen provision affording the ultimate potential for reuse;
bio-diversity encouraged through the use of a sedum roof finish with rain chains and a drainage system feeding a nearby pond with great crested newts.

Design development

Ian McKay worked closely with the structural engineer, Tom Bedford towards an innovative construction system: the free-standing larch timber frame supports a huge roof such that the straw bales could be stored beneath, crucially being kept absolutely dry throughout that phase of the build. The bale walls would then be ‘clamped’ against the frame. Volunteers were drawn to the project from all over the South East to take part in the straw bale construction which was led by renowned expert Barbara Jones.

Originally designed for Shepway District Council as a visitor facility for a new country park, the building is now run by Kent Wildlife Trust. The project was completed in the summer of 2003 and has been described as the “Greenest building in the South East of England” by Tony Wimble, then Environment Officer of Kent County Council.

Ian McKay worked on the Romney Marsh Visitor Centre during his time as co-director of BBM Sustainable Design.

Team credits:

Client: Shepway District Council

Architect: Ian McKay of BBM Sustainable Design Limited

Structural Engineer: Tom Bedford of Bedford and Eccles Partnership

Main Contractor: Ecolibrium

Straw Bale Specialist: Barbara Jones of Amazon Nails

Awards:

Kent Design Awards Commendation

Testimonial:

“Given the limited budget, the visitor centre has more than lived up to expectations.
With heat provided by a wood burning stove and the thermal insulating properties of the straw bales, heating costs are virtually nil with wood being supplied from coppicing activities on our reserves.
The use of natural materials throughout gives the building a remarkably pleasant atmosphere and this is frequently commented on by our visitors.”
Steve Humphrey
Manager Romney Marsh Visitor Centre