Our design for the new education and leisure centre celebrates its beautiful natural surroundings, creates long-term social value for the community, and is net zero carbon in use. We’re proud it’s become an exemplar project for local authorities.
Dinton Activity Centre
- Client: Wokingham Borough Council
- Location: Wokingham
- Value: £2.4million
Services
- Architecture
- Industrialised construction
- Interior design
- Sustainability
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A space to learn in nature
Set on a picturesque lakeside in Dinton County Park, Dinton Activity Centre has become a popular destination for the local Wokingham community.
Replacing a former building that was no longer fit-for-purpose, we designed this two-storey building to complement its natural surroundings and have minimal environmental impact. Interlinked volumes are clad in Siberian larch that is weathering beautifully over time to blend into the landscape.
The state-of-the-art education and leisure facilities include an activity hall, changing areas, teaching and conference spaces, and a cafe that opens onto a terrace for people to enjoy peaceful views across the lake.
Sustainability
To support our client’s commitment to be carbon neutral by 2030, our architecture, interior design, sustainability and MMC specialists worked closely to deliver a new net zero carbon building with sustainable principles embedded into its design, construction and operation.
Dinton Activity Centre was constructed has become a case study for how local authorities across the UK can successfully develop net zero carbon buildings.
We achieved a significant reduction in embodied carbon by developing an innovative steel volumetric off-site structural system, and rationalising the substructure to discreet pad foundations. And we integrated sustainability features into the design to deliver net zero carbon in use:
Windcatchers on the roof provide natural ventilation. Air source heat pumps provide heat and hot water, and photovoltaic panels deliver electricity, and allow the centre to export energy back to the national grid.
Project data
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Net zero carbon in operation
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Steel volumetric offsite structural system
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50% reduction in embodied carbon achieved by rationalising the substructure from a reinforced raft slab to discrete pad foundations
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50% reduction in overall energy demand
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In focus
Industrialised construction
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Our steel volumetric off-site structural system was core to our net zero carbon design approach.
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Construction works and reduced activity onsite, had a minimal impact on the sensitive, constrained setting.
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