A Gateway into the Forest – Haldon Forest Park

Exeter

LHC Design has been responsible for the Architectural and Landscape Design at Haldon Forest Park to create a new ‘gateway to the forest’ comprising purpose-built Visitor Centre along with operational support buildings.

LHC have been responsible for helping the client develop and deliver on a Carbon Reduction Plan for the project with the scheme embracing the Net Zero Operational and Embodied Carbon targets provided by the RIBA, LETI, UKGBC Advancing Net Zero Framework to ensure the project is an exemplar in its field.

LHC have recently submitted the scheme for planning and are excited to continue working on the project with a much-anticipated start on site in 2023.

Client

Forestry England

Service

Architecture, Graphics, Landscape

Sector

Leisure

Value

Unspecified

“It’s incredibly exciting to be submitting this planning application to create a new gateway to the forest. Our goal is to deliver memorable experiences for people of all ages and abilities, and initial visitor feedback on our proposal has been overwhelmingly positive. Haldon Forest Park is loved by so many people that our old facilities are simply bursting at the seams. With a better car park, more toilets, larger cafe, and improved accessibility, Haldon will be in the best possible shape to connect people with nature and the physical and mental health benefits of time spent outdoors – now and for future generations.”
Katy Harrison, Haldon Forest Park manager

Project Vision

Our vision for Haldon Forest is to create an exemplar highly sustainable and accessible Visitor Centre acting as a focal point and gateway into the forest, connecting people with the forest and nature.

Key Facts and Highlights

A Whole Life Carbon Assessment for both embodied and operational carbon and has been carried out in order to reduce the overall carbon impact of the project.
Trees from Haldon Forest will be felled, sent to local timber sawmills and manufactured into structural frames before being returned to site to construct the building. All taking place locally here in the South West, helping reduce the overall Scope 1, 2, 3 emissions of the project.
The buildings will be designed to have a fabric first approach including improved air tightness, to reduce the required heat demand.
Detailed modelling has been carried out to establish the buildings use requirements and use a very low Energy Use Intensity target to drive down the operational energy demand of the buildings.
Green renewable technologies are incorporated within the design to reduce the requirement for imported grid energy
The buildings are intended to be low carbon in operation, supporting Forestry England’s ambition to be carbon net zero by 2033.
As part of the delivery of the project Building Energy Synergy will be incorporated into the building to monitor energy usage and allow improvement in efficiencies through the building’s life cycle, and verifies net zero carbon in use.
EV Charging for both the general public and Forestry England Vehicle fleet will be integrated into the scheme

sustainability approach

Energy Performance

The buildings will be designed to have a fabric first approach including improved air tightness, to reduce the required heat demand.
MHVR with heat recovery efficiency
Photovoltaic Panels
Air / Ground Source Heat pump installation will be used on the site.
It is being proposed to monitor energy use and carbon across the whole of the development.

Whole life carbon/resource efficiency

A Whole Life Carbon Assessment for both embodied and operational carbon has been carried out in order to reduce the overall carbon impact of the project.
Trees from Haldon Forest will be felled, sent to local timber sawmills and manufactured into structural frames before being returned to site to construct the building. All taking place locally here in the South West. Helping reduce the overall Scope 1, 2, 3 emissions of the project.
Low flow fixtures and fittings will be used in order to help reduce Potable Water usage.
Use of Sustain Drainage Systems (SuDS).

EV Charging

The scheme will provide EV Car and Bike Charging facilities for the general public.

Sustainable Transport

The Haldon Forest Park aim to provide a new bus stop and connection allowing visitors to choose public transport to facilitate their visit. The potential new bus stop will link directly via a footpath to the new visitor buildings and experience. The scheme is aiming to provide Provision has been made for electric vehicle charging points, initially with a shorty run of bays with changing point, including disabled bays, and the infrastructure inbuilt to allow future expansion in numbers.

Access to Greenspace and Amenities

The site is located within Haldon Forest, with accessible paths and cycleways linking the visitor buildings, car park and trails and activities within the forest. Timber sleeper planting beds with small ornamental trees have been created around the buildings which will offer visitors the chance to sit and enjoy the beautiful surroundings. Outside cafe seating amongst trees on the edge of the forest looks out towards a natural play space providing kids the chance to play and experience the forest

Social Value, Health and Wellbeing

Provides a safe gateway for local people and visitors to experience the forest in a multitude of ways including walking, running, cycling, segways as well Go Ape. The site offers many levels of pathways and experiences for people to experience nature, providing health and wellbeing benefits for all, irrespective of mobility. The building design creates space to meet people and interact, with framed external views of the forest, helping further to connect people with the natural world even whilst inside.

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