The popularity of Nant yr Arian as both a great recreational facility for walkers, cyclists, mountain bikers as well as keen bird watchers coming to see the famous Red kites, meant that the old visitor centre could no longer cater for the increasing demand. A new visitor centre was needed and Forestry Commission Wales set about creating one of the first of their 30 plus centres in the UK, redesigned to the highest environmental standards.
This new centre shows what can be done to make the most of our natural resources. From top to bottom, inside and out, we have incorporated sustainable building materials and minimized our impact on the environment. The structure itself features timber beams supporting a living sedum roof. Not only does the roof have a natural covering of sedum, a living carpet if you like, but the shape of the roof also allows us to collect rainwater and use it to flush the toilets and run the bike wash.
Almost all of the wood used in the construction of the building came from the Commission and all the internal finishes are of wood, from floor to ceiling. Outside, the wood flows through onto a timber viewing deck overlooking the lake.
The less visible components of the building include recycled paper used to add further insulation and a wood-burning boiler using wood chips to provide all of the heating and hot water. Furthermore, we minimize the amount of waste we produce by recycling as much as possible and by using modern centrifugal composting toilets.
By providing interpretation panels throughout the centre we are helping our visitors to understand what we are doing to make best use of natural resources and raising awareness of what it means for the environment.
The future
We will of course be using sustainable building materials and methods for any future new buildings and refurbishments but we are also encouraging all of our staff in existing offices and visitor centres to adopt as many environmentally friendly and efficient processes as possible – big and small.