The Cotswold Water Park is the United Kingdom's largest water park, comprising of 147 lakes, create by previous and current gravel extraction, spread over 40 square mile area of countryside on the border between Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, near the villages of South Cerney and Ashton Keynes. The lakes are used for a wide range of watersports as well as a mixture of other leisure activities including fishing and holiday accommodation. AWW were appointed by The Cotswold Water Park Trust to design a Gateway Centre containing an information centre, gallery and café, providing a base for the many walkers, cyclists and bird watchers who visit the area. The Centre, which enjoys a prominent position at a key entrance to the Water Park, also provides offices for a holiday company operating narrow boats on the nearby Thames and Severn canal. A separate retail building, let to an outdoor leisure company, completes the development.
The Society has an educational remit and respect for the environment was a prerequisite of the scheme. The design incorporates a number of notable sustainable design features, including a large array of photovoltaic cells and a lake loop, a closed system of submerged pipework which collects heat from the lake during the winter to pre-heat the building. This process is reversed during the summer, allowing surplus heat from the building to be given back to the lake. This process creates free hot water in the summer and delivers substantial hot water savings in the winter. All of the energy consumption is monitored and displayed within the building as an educational tool. This information includes details of overall energy consumption, including the amount of surplus electricity sold back to the National Grid.
The sourcing of materials and use of local suppliers and craftsmen was carefully considered. The single storey Gateway Centre has an exposed green oak frame and both buildings are clad in larch, a native softwood.
The Gateway Centre has proved to be a very successful addition to the Park, supporting the commercial and charitable work of the Trust, who are dedicated to maintaining and improving the Cotswold Water Park for the people of the county and its wildlife.
