PROJECT REPORT: TIMBER BUILDS 59
to include uplighting, but RHS director general Sue Biggs (who has since retired) didn’t feel it gave the interior the right quality of light. She instead wanted to use pendant lighting, but the clerestory-type high level glazing below the roof around the entire perimeter meant that no power was running to it.
The solution was to run cabling up through the mullions of the curtain wall glazing at the ends of the building. In between each timber cassette in the roof, connecting them together, is a flitch plate – which created a shadow gap. The cabling was run within these gaps to power the pendants which, asserts Hodder, “really added to the quality of the interior and elegance of the roof structure.”
Layout & landscaping To the right of reception is the main retail area, which leads through into the restaurant, featuring an outdoor terrace protected by the extending roof. Beyond the restaurant is the glasshouse, housing indoor plants and equipment and leading out to the outdoor plant sales area. The ticketing and membership areas are to the left, beyond which is the entrance to the garden. Flanking that are the toilets and ‘pods’ containing two classrooms and offices. While the main hall is six metres high, the pods are more intimate, and neutral. “There’s a contrast between the two,” Hodder says. The membership area, ticketing desks and other key areas are clad in terracotta, with the intention to clearly signal to visitors where to go,
ADF SEPTEMBER 2022
minimising the need for signage. Although finding room for all the required elements wasn’t excessively taxing, deciding on the layout proved challenging. “We spent a lot of time shuffling the pods around to make sure the relationships were right,” Hodder explains.
The practice worked closely with Tom Stuart-Smith on the landscaping; “the shape of the new lake, the movement of people around the building, and the planting up against the building had to be really considered,” says Hodder. “He understood the building and what we were trying to achieve; the landscape and the building were seen as one.” The new lake connects to the original, restored lake (which sits slightly higher), via a stream.
Recognition
Completion was at the end of 2021, slightly delayed due to Covid, but the building has been a phenomenal success. Not only have visitor numbers far exceeded expectations, the project has also been shortlisted for and won a variety of awards, for its sustainability, accessibility, use of timber, and design. “It’s a very special project,” Hodder
says. The landscaping combined with the building’s wildflower roof has seen an improvement to the area’s biodiversity and the practice has received multiple compliments, from the RHS, visitors and fellow architects. “It’s a legacy project, it’s for the people of Salford,” Hodder concludes. “It’s just nice to go back and see people enjoying it.” g
HORIZONTAL
Minimising the building’s impact on the landscape, the design’s low, horizontal composition was inspired by the Bridgewater Canal
AWARDS
• MSA Design Award 2017 • Architect of the Year (Winner) – Structural Timber Awards 2020
• Cultural & Leisure Project of the Year (Shortlisted, Highly Commended) – BCI Awards 2021
• Environment & Sustainability Initiative of the Year (Shortlisted) – BCI Awards 2021
• MSA Design Award 2021 • Structural Award (Winner) - Wood Awards 2021
• Commercial & Leisure (Highly Commended) – Wood Awards 2021
• Building of the Year (Winner) – GMCC Excellence Awards 2021
• Civic Trust Award 2022 • RIBA North West Award 2022 • RIBA North West Sustainability Award 2022
• RIBA North West Building of the Year 2022
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