Slimbridge Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust
Natural building company, Earthed, were contracted by Slimbridge Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) to build a cob and timber frame viewing gallery to house the new exhibition of wetland mammals on the site. The cob walls in combination with a timber frame structure support a wildflower meadow living roof and are finished with a lime plaster and earthen render.
Part of a larger project, ‘Back from the Brink’, the building was conceived by Simon Rose of Slimbridge WWT to be ‘of the landscape’ in which it was located; the Trust wished to employ a more natural building method in line with its conservation philosophy, reflecting its immediate surroundings and local materials.
As artists and builders, Earthed‘s main objective is to raise awareness of sustainable methods of building and living through creative and practical means. All the materials for Earthed’s buildings are sourced either directly from the site or from as locally as possible using a range of both reclaimed and natural materials. A green roof was felt to be a valuable addition to the building’s sustainable design providing a wildlife habitat and encouraging a diversity of birds, plants and insects to the site.
Both the premise for ‘Back from the Brink’ and the choice of materials selected for the building are designed to get people thinking about important conservation issues such as wetland habitat loss and species decline, as well as looking at minimising materials in construction using a combination of both reclaimed and un-processed and natural materials.
A wildflower roof (using the Lindum Wildflower & Meadow Grass Mat which contains more than 20 different species) was chosen as it encourages more diverse species to the area compared to a simple turf roof. Wildflower living roofs also require less maintenance since they include more drought tolerant species, which was an important consideration for this project.
Earthed installed the living roof on this project from the waterproof membrane layer to the vegetation layer. Lindum provided all the green roof layers above the waterproof membrane. Lindum’s Wildflower Meadow & Grass Mat was delivered in rolls which made it very easy to install and gave an instant green finish.
By choosing an instant wildflower meadow for the living roof it made for a more impressive and aesthetically pleasing building for the official opening and for the visitors over the summer period. It also greatly reduced the run-off from our torrential summer rain avoiding large puddles in the tarmac area around the building and provided an instant habitat for the local birds and insects onsite.
Click here for more information on Wildflower and Meadow Grass mat
For more information on sustainable building, design and education from Earthed visit: www.earthedworld.co.uk
For more information on Slimbridge Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust’s new ‘Back from the Brink’ development visit: www.wwt.org.uk/visit-us/slimbridge/back-from-the-brink
We were happy to work with Lindum on this project; they were very efficient in dealing with our requirements and also flexible to our changing circumstances throughout the project. We were very pleased with the quality of the Wildflower Meadow & Grass Mat vegetation layer and look forward to seeing it thrive on the building. And not a nettle in site!
Annabel Fawcus, Earthed
