Three years ago the site for the new Coed y Brenin visitor centre was a steeply sloping, forested area with no gas, electricity, telephone, water or drainage. Forestry Commission Wales wanted to build a visitor centre that would blend into the forest setting and have low visual impact on the surrounding environment.
We set about designing the new centre to incorporate as many sustainable features and environmentally friendly building design techniques as possible. It has mainly been built using wood – which is by far the most environmentally-friendly construction material. Not only is it a renewable resource, it is a recyclable one – this is vital because we need to preserve resources and minimise our global environmental impact. All of the timber used came from sustainable sources, and these were mostly local so we reduced the need for transportation.
We installed a woodfuel heating system which provides renewable energy for all the heat and hot water needs of the centre. It uses wood chips rather than wood pellets as they involve less processing, and these are also sourced locally to minimise transportation costs and vehicle emissions. There are a number of other sustainable features included in the building such as airflush urinals and smaller cisterns for the toilets – both helping to conserve water. Low-energy fittings are been used throughout, and with good ventilation provided by the windows and roof lights, no air conditioning has been needed! We further insulated the centre by using recycled newspaper in the timber frame, roof and partitions
The level of public interest at Coed y Brenin has been fantastic and has allowed us to raise awareness among our visitors of what can be done to make a positive contribution to sustainable development.
The future
Our next major project is the refurbishment of our existing visitor centre at Garwnant, in the Brecon Beacons National Park. We will be using all the lessons learnt from the Coed y Brenin and Nant yr Arian projects and incorporating as many sustainable elements into the improvements at Garwnant.