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Green centre for Welsh wetland

Posted: 07/08/2007

A wildlife centre in the heart of Barry is looking to the future in more ways than one. Dow Corning’s Cadoxton Ponds Education Centre aims to service a wildlife haven for schools and the local community. And the centre has been built to capture the sunlight. It will provide its own heating and electricity through ground source heat recovery and photo-voltaic panels, while all services and building materials have been chosen to ensure minimum impact on the environment.

Insulation has been donated by Rockwool, a local company which manufactures insulating materials from rocks and other recycled materials. In fact all materials used in creating the building are from sustainable sources as far as possible.

The education centre has been built overlooking the ponds and will be used by schools and local groups for environmental studies, field trips and science projects.

The building forms the final part of a larger project to restore the two ponds and wetlands area that lies adjacent to the Dow Corning site. Work began on the centre, Dow Corning’s biggest community project to date, last year and the company has been working alongside The Wildlife Trust and Glamorgan Anglers to develop the land’s potential for education, conservation and leisure pursuits. The nature area itself will give the local community access to walks and wildlife observation.

Graham Milsom, senior partner with the building designers Milsom Architects, a Welsh-based, eco-friendly firm, said there was no doubt that global warming was now a major problem. And in designing the nature centre, they adopted realistic approaches to the standards now required by law from building designers.

“Global warming and the depletion of the earth’s resources are having a big impact on designing these days,” he said. “We used a realistic and practical approach in our design of this centre, so we could come up with something that was both environmentally friendly and aesthetically pleasing. To be able to provide an invaluable community resource was an extra bonus.”

Jonathan Coldman, Dow Corning community relations co-ordinator at the Barry site, said it had been “amazing” to watch the building develop. “It complements the work we did to restore the ponds themselves,” he said. “The education centre makes a great resource for local schools and groups who want to come and visit.”

ic Wales  
 

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