25 Jan 2017
Sherwood Forest Visitor Centre gains planning permission
BY Tom Anstey
Plans have been approved for a new visitor centre in the heart of Sherwood Forest Country Park, the famous home of the legendary Robin Hood.
The plans by Newcastle-based architects JDDK have been approved by Newark and Sherwood District Council, with the the £5.3m (US$6.6m, €6.2m) project being created “in order to do justice to the legend of Robin Hood and the forest of Nottingham”.
Continuum Leading Attractions is teaming up with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) to build and operate a new visitor centre, which forms part of the Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve (NNR).
JDDK was selected as architects for the centre following previous projects for the RSPB, notably the Saltholme Wildlife Reserve and Discovery Park Visitor Centre, which opened in 2009.
The JDDK masterplan divides the site into two separate areas, one for the actual visitor centre and service area and the other for the main visitor car and coach park.
The design features a building “knitted into the existing community at Forest Corner so that almost a village square is formed between the new building and the existing cricket club, YHA hostel and the Arts & Crafts Centre,” according to JDDK.
The centre itself will cover 558sq m (6,000sq ft) and is designed to lead visitors into the famous forest.
“One of the main features of the centre is its curved, twisted form, created by staggered roof beams, which reflect the forest environment and the ‘trees that sheltered him’ concept of Robin Hood,” said JDDK principal architect, Alison Thornton-Sykes.
“The linear format pulls visitors through and down the 5m level change into the double height café space and out to the exterior amphitheatre sheltered by the overhanging canopy, an integral part of the roof.”
The project will now start moving into its construction phase. In the meantime, the council will retain responsibility for the existing visitor facilities until the new visitor centre opens its doors.
Close Window