A low-carbon, contemporary visitor centre that combines traditional and modern materials and building techniques, this building at Ightham Mote for the National Trust wears its environment credentials on its sleeve.
© Fred Howarth
Providing an enhanced experience for visitors, it has a timber frame, exposed hempcrete walls, and a sweet chestnut and lime render cladding. With life-cycle analysis showing embodied carbon emissions of under 500kg/m2CO2e, it outperforms the RIBA’s Sustainable Outcomes guidance for 2025 by over 25%.
It was part of a series of improvements carried out by Reed Watts architects and landscape architects Colvin & Moggridge to the National Trust’s Ightham Mote in Kent, a Grade 1 listed building and Scheduled Monument, in Autumn 2025.
Alongside landscape improvements, sustainable drainage systems and new parking, this new building houses the visitor reception and shop – a generous and flexible space for visitors to orientate themselves before approaching the historic, 700 year old manor house and the wider estate.
Its location at the southern end of the newly reinstated, walled garden encourages visitors to explore more of the estate than before, and helps the Trust to manage visitor flows at peak times.
© Fred Howarth
A much-needed new building
The new building replaces a temporary building which was at the end of its life and relocates the shop from within the historic coach house, releasing it for other more appropriate uses. Proposals were developed by Reed Watts over a number of years in close collaboration between the Ightham Mote estate team, Colvin & Moggridge, and a wider design team including heritage advisors.
TDUK members Price & Myers played an essential part in the building, as both the project’s structural engineers and civil & drainage engineers.
The team considered several locations and forms for the new building, testing its impact on the historic setting alongside factors such as visitor accessibility and legibility, as well as its impact on flooding and archaeology.
Siting the new building at the edge of the walled garden, in a central location, was felt to provide the optimum balance while maintaining the magical journey down to the mansion house itself during which, the stone and timber building gradually reveals itself to visitors.
“This is a building that reflects our shared commitment to future generations and that will last, we hope, as long as Ightham Mote itself. We’re excited to see it come to life over the coming months and years.”
Matt Watts, Director, Reed Watts architects
The new building has been designed as a contemporary structure in contrast to, but with references back to, the manor house. It shows how well new architecture can sit with the old: the material palette and construction methods were developed to complement the historic building and its setting.
Axonometric drawing; © Reed Watts architects
“I remember coming to Ightham Mote as a teenager with my parents, so it was a real privilege to work here. We’ve built something that combines traditional and modern materials, mixing established construction techniques with contemporary design,” recalls Matt.
“We’ve worked hard to significantly reduce the embodied carbon in the building’s fabric with the exposed internal timber structure and locally sourced timber cladding.”
Cutting carbon with wood
Material choices such as the sweet chestnut cladding, exposed timber frame and lime render reflected the team’s drive to build in a sustainable way and to reduce carbon emissions. The cladding’s timber was coppiced locally in Kent and Sussex and is naturally durable, making it suitable for use as a cladding material in an untreated form – no chemicals were used to protect it.
“Compared to other timbers, sweet chestnut is high in natural tannins and you may see some brown staining below the timber,” Matt comments.
© Fred Howarth
“It is also relatively acidic so we have used stainless steel screws and nails to prevent black stains from appearing on the timber itself. Like most timbers, the sweet chestnut will gradually turn to a light silver colour, especially on the southern façade of the building where it receives the most rain and sunlight.”
The internal timber frame was developed as a simple structure that exposes and celebrates the use of wood as a natural material. Its timber is minimally processed cut softwood, and the connections are for the most part detailed using carpentry techniques – roof joists half-housed onto the beams – with only the use of small steel flitch plates and bolts where necessary.
Larger column and beam elements used paired timbers rather than single large solid timber sections. “This is a more efficient way of sourcing material,” Matt says. “We worked closely with the site carpenters and the contractor to design in the notches and holes needed through the timber to accommodate – and minimise – the new service routes.”
© Fred Howarth
Other natural materials
While not a timber product, the 400mm thick hempcrete blocks, supplied by The Hemp Block Company, which were used to form the external walls, are another way that embodied carbon was kept down. These blocks, fabricated from the bi-product of the hemp cloth industry, are low-carbon products that can also help to passively regulate the acoustics, temperature and humidity within the building.
Plastic was also avoided where possible. Rather than using PVC or vinyl for the back-of-house flooring, traditional linoleum was used.
“This is made from linseed oil, gum rosin and wood flour. These are all rapidly renewing materials and account for more that 50% of the linoleum. Finely ground limestone is added – a fourth element which is mixed into the oil, rosin and wood flour paste before being applied to a jute backing. It is extremely hygienic, recyclable, biodegradable and unlike vinyl, it doesn’t release harmful gases into the air.”
© Fred Howarth
Measures to reduce operational energy
Alongside the use of renewable materials, an air source heat pump, natural ventilation and high levels of insulation have been incorporated to reduce operational carbon. The use of passive ventilation is particularly interesting here: the building relies on natural ventilation to provide fresh air year-round.
This is achieved by virtue of the clerestory glazing which includes 12 motorised opening windows. These are linked to temperature and CO2 sensors in the building as well as to wind and rain monitors so that the windows are automatically opened when needed to let hot, stale air out and let fresh air in.
