Situated on the edge of Windsor Great Park, the Savill Garden is one of the finest public gardens in the UK, receiving around 200,000 visitors annually. A stunning new visitor centre, featuring a dramatic curved timber roof, now provides a major new landmark attraction. This elegantly engineered, environmentally friendly building is made entirely from timber harvested from the adjacent Crown Estate, and will be the largest timber gridshell structure in the UK.
The form of the gridshell is a three domed, double curved ‘sinusoidal’ shape clad in oak, with the shell perimeter comprising a tubular steel beam supported on steel quadruped legs. The roof measures 90 metres in length and is formed using a delicate interlocking timber lath construction of larch, shaped and jointed by specialist carpenters working to a unique computer-generated design. The timber was finger jointed to achieve the required lengths and remove defects.
Like the Downland Gridshell before it, the Savill building highlights the potential of lightweight timber frames and underlines Buro Happold’s talent for innovative, modern design using sustainable materials and traditional construction methods. Containing a range of facilities including a shop, planteria and restaurant, the visitor centre blends in perfectly with its natural surroundings. A raised perimeter along one edge allows visitors panoramic views over the gardens from the centre’s interior spaces.
