The light-filled Welcome Building provides an uplifting entrance to RHS Garden Bridgewater and won the North West RIBA Sustainability Award
North West RIBA Regional Award 2022
Hodder & Partners for the Royal Horticultural Society
Contract value: Confidential
GIA: 2,374m2
With a forest of tree-like columns supporting a timber diagrid roof, the light-filled Welcome Building makes an uplifting entrance to RHS Garden Bridgewater, newly open on the 156-acre Worsley New Hall Estate. The long, low larch-clad pavilion has a dramatic yet sensitive presence in the landscape. It accommodates ticketing, retail, a café and a garden centre that can shrink and expand in response to seasonal demand, as well as office ‘pods’ that can be dismantled without disturbing the main structure. Foundations prepared for a future extension give additional flexibility. Sustainability was a central concern, addressed by natural ventilation, rainwater harvesting, a green roof and ground-source heat pumps. Canopies and the oversailing roof shelter outdoor spaces and blur the boundary between the building and the gardens.
Regional Building of the Year 2022
North West RIBA Regional Award 2022
North West RIBA Sustainability Award 2022
Sustainability Award sponsored by Michelmersh @mbhplc
See the rest of the North West winners here
And all the RIBA Regional Awards here