Sustainable Construction

Environmental sustainability for a building begins at the drawing board. Peter and Juliet Kindersley worked closely with the architects, Alec French, to ensure that environmental impact was considered at all stages of the design - everything from renewable timber sources to the right type of paint.

Here is a summary of the centre's inbuilt 'green' thinking:

• Sheepdrove Eco Conference Centre sits on the 'footprint' of the previous farm office to minimise the physical demands on land area and any visual change within the landscape.
• The embodied energy used in the manufacture of material was studied as part of the specification of materials used in the building.
• Materials from the demolition of the redundant buildings were re-used. Concrete was crushed on site to provide a sub-base for the building and courtyard. Timber was re-used by the farm.
• Chalk from the excavations was re-used to create the 'rammed earth' style of wall seen in the Oak Room and in the Hall. The remainder was used around the farm to form landscape features.
• All the new timber products are from responsibly managed and renewable sources - from the UK where possible. Wooden shingles for the roof are crafted from parts of the tree normally wasted in commercial timber production.
• The main timber frames are shaped as a Catenary Arch, a naturally strong shape which means less material and energy spent in engineering.
• We used only water-based paint products, both internally and externally. Where possible they were omitted altogether. For example, the beams, of Douglas Fir timbers, are not varnished or painted.
• No PVC was used in the construction of the centre, including electrical wiring, pipe work and flat roof membranes.
• The toilet cubicle partitions are made from recycled toothpaste tubes and the glitzy wash basin panels from recycled CD's.