Broads outdoor centre: a lesson in low-impact engineering Available to Purchase

The new Whitlingham outdoor education centre in the Norfolk Broads near Norwich, UK is a fine example of how imaginative structural and civil engineering can result in solutions which are both practical and financially efficient, but also entirely sympathetic with the local environment. The project has also helped transform a disused gravel extraction pit into a thriving country park and outdoor activities centre. Design features include the use of removable and recyclable steel screw anchors rather than concrete piles, extensive use of glue-laminated timber construction, a structurally efficient yet translucent canopy and a low-cost on-site effluent treatment plant. A novel plastic sheet-piling system was also adopted to solve the unexpected problem of underwater soil erosion through an existing gabion retaining wall.