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Restoring Winkworth Project

National Trust Winkworth Arboretum, Surrey

We have recently won planning permission for new National Trust visitor facilities at Winkworth Arboretum, Surrey.

Winkworth Arboretum was created in the early 20th century by Dr Fox, a local doctor with a passion for preserving the wooded hillside. He passed Winkworth to the National Trust in 1952 and remains the National Trust’s only Arboretum. The development area is within the Green Belt, AONB and Area of Great Landscape Value.

This project will address the visitor facilities infrastructure backlog by providing new facilities that are fit for purpose, and which reflect the Arboretum’s ‘Spirit of Place’ and enable its growth potential and long-term restoration vision. The project comprises a new visitor reception, offices, restaurant and retail building suited to managing 230,000 visitors per year, along with the restoration of part of the Arboretum – from a former carpark – and providing new car and coach parking. In response to the brief, a single main volume is broken down into three smaller volumes to minimise visual intrusion on the landscape. These volumes comprise of reception, retail, and café buildings which are interconnected to achieve the required physical and visual relationship and create external courtyards upon arrival. The building embraces Dr Fox’s passion for ‘painting with trees’ by framing views through the subtle interior out towards the Arboretum.

IPTA has wealth of experience working with off-site fabrication Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) for sustainability, cost and build efficiency; Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) Construction was used for this project, which also provides renewable energy sources for over 50% of the energy requirements. The project is currently at the end of RIBA Stage 4 technical design.