🟩 GreenBricks Building of the Week 🟩 WWF Living Planet Centre

Attenborough-approved green

The wildlife charity’s head UK office and education hub brings the spirit of woodland inside. With its light-filled arched timber frame, you could well be stepping into a gigantic treehouse.

📍Location

Surrey, UK

🏢Building Details

• Completed 2013, following £5m donation from the Rufford Foundation in 2006

• Whole site = 90,000 sq ft; Building = 40,000 sq ft

• 2-storey low-rise with curved roof – surrounded by trees, grasses, and wetland

• Includes office (open-plan for 300 workers), education hub, and 150-seat auditorium

👷🏾‍♀️Contractor

• Richard Bartlett, Sustainability Manager & Senior Bid Manager @ Willmott Dixon

✍️Architects & Engineers

• Mike Taylor, Senior Partner @ Hopkins Architects

• Andrew Weir, Director @ Expedition Engineering

• Fred Labbé, Director @ Expedition Engineering

🌱Sustainability

• BREEAM Outstanding – uses 67% less energy than typical office

• Built on Woking carpark brownfield site = minimal disruption to natural environment

• Construction ‘take-back’ scheme diverted 99% of waste from landfill

• Passive design: natural ventilation (facilitated by red and green ‘traffic light’ system indicating when to open windows) + effective insulation

• 5,000+ sq ft of roof solar PV panels provide 20% of energy

• Sustainable urban draining system (SUDS) – attenuates floods and creates wild wetland area attracting aquatic invertebrates

🥦 Wellbeing

• Ample outdoor working and relaxation space: dedicated areas for employees to grow their own plants, fruit and veg

• High ‘gridshell’ design roof: grid of timber beams dissected by rows of skylights lets natural light flood in

• Egalitarian ‘deep-green’ hot-desk plan (includes CEO + Directors): clear-desk policy minimises clutter and maximises productivity

• Sound-masking system generates subtle ‘white noise’, masking background chatter with soothing birdsong

🎈Bonus feature

It was opened on 1st November 2013 by Sir David Attenborough himself. He even helped plant one of their indoor fig trees. If it has Attenborough’s approval, it jolly well has ours.

🔗 Check it out http://assets.wwf.org.uk/custom/stories/lpc/?_ga=2.79120722.734011224.1638552249-1439128919.1638552249