Whitlingham Country Park, situated on the edge of Norwich, is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Norfolk. An impressive Water Activities Centre, engineered by Buro Happold, allows visitors to enjoy sailing, windsurfing and other watersports on the scenic Whitlingham Great Broad.

The construction of these structures presented a number of engineering design challenges due to the site’s poor ground conditions and limited access. A build-up of loose alluvial deposits from the river meant that the site could not support heavy loads, so the buildings are lightweight and supported on shallow concrete raft foundations that spread the weight over a large area.

Prefabrication was the ideal way to overcome site access and programme constraints, so the eight structurally identical cabins were constructed off-site and then split in half for transportation.