Structural Awards 2014

Located on a prominent and challenging brownfield site at the edge of Woking’s Town Centre, the new Living Planet Centre (LPC) is WWF-UK’s new ultra-green administrative building. Created to set an ambitious new precedent for similarly sized organisations, it maximises on-site sustainable features and has targeted the BREEAM Outstanding rating. It is designed to reflect the ethos of WWF-UK and includes an outreach component to welcome members of the public into the building. Great attention has been paid to the specification and procurement of all materials to ensure minimal environmental impact, including a significantly reduced carbon footprint compared to the industry standard. It was described by David Attenborough as "a remarkable, elegant, symbolic and beautiful building."

The LPC houses 300 staff over two storeys in a collaborative, open-plan environment together with conference and educational facilities and the new WWF Experience exhibit. It actively regenerates and improves the site and is in fact built on a raised fair-faced concrete podium above a retained council car park.

The roof is composed of a dramatic and structurally-efficient 37.5m wide curving timber grid shell. These are capped with a recycled aluminium roof featuring photovoltaic panels for energy production and large metal wind cowls to assist with the ventilation of the building. Eastern and western ends are glazed, with timber louvres providing protection against solar gain. Office space is arranged around a double-height internal street which adds focus and sociability to the internal environment. The open-span nature of the building’s structure allows for easy future adjustment of internal partitions and layout to thoroughly futureproof the building.

To reflect and enhance the rich surrounding ecology and biodiversity, the building has been designed to limit its impact on the site and this podium is flanked by a series of green, planted spaces filled with trees, shrubs and flowers. Surrounding the site, existing trees have been retained and a new wetlands area created to provide a wildlife corridor from the Basingstoke Canal to Horsell Moor and enhance the public realm along the historic canal. A replacement bridge from the town centre has been constructed which leads to the public piazza at podium level to enhance connection to the local community.

Construction of the project started onsite in April 2012, with the official opening in November 2013. Significant effort has been placed on minimising or removing barriers to inclusive design. The layout for the new building is clear and logical and can be immediately understood upon entering the building.

The judges were impressed by the delivery of an exceptionally attractive building from a demanding brief and to a limited budget. The superstructure is entirely exposed and is integral to the building’s success. There is clear evidence of effective collaboration within the multidisciplinary design team. Both the diagrid timber roof and the straightforward concrete frame have been optimised to minimise their carbon footprint, using innovative carbon accounting. The embodied carbon was reduced by 42% from the original scheme design.