Designing Timber issue 10 for online - Flipbook - Page 32
———— REIMAGINING NATURAL HISTORY ————
昀椀r provides visual warmth and
textural interest, contrasting
with a surrounding stone
palette.
Around the perimeter of the
building, the timber structure
bears onto a façade composed
of three UK-sourced stones
– Purbeck spangle, Ancaster
and Clipsham – all of which are
found elsewhere in the garden.
This continuity of materiality
connects the café to its setting,
while tonally referencing
the terracotta tiles of Alfred
Waterhouse’s original museum
building nearby.
Sculptural insertions
INSPIRATION
INSPIRATION
Further along the garden path,
visitors meet a phenomenal
feat of engineering in the form
of a bronze cast dinosaur
skeleton. The sculpture is
both a visual focal point and
a technical accomplishment
by TDUK members Structure
Workshop, who have achieved
a soaring cantilever on the
dinosaur’s long, delicate tail
bone, held aloft with a discrete
tension cable.
This is followed by an
evocative gesture marking
the evolution of humans:
footprints embedded into a
composite surface made with
recycled human-made material
such as broken tiles, glass
fragments and plastic bottle
caps. The path continues past
the translocated wildlife pond,
which was moved in its entirety
– including all the water and
ecological contents – to a new
spot within the recon昀椀gured
gardens.
It is beyond the pond and
sheep-grazing paddocks that
the Nature Activity Centre is
located, partially concealed
amongst the trees.
↑
Section drawing of the
Garden Kitchen: the
low, stepped-height
building sites nestled
between the outdoor
living galleries and
the original Alfred
Waterhouse museum.
→
The structural frame
of the cafe pavilion
rises up to create a
glazed lantern, 昀椀lling
the interior with natural
light.
DESIGNING TIMBER
32
NOV/DEC 2025
