Upton Country Park, Welcome Centre, Poole
A landscape led sustainable welcome centre for a Dorset Country Park
The new Welcome Centre at Upton Country Park will replace an existing toilet block and provide an accessible heritage attraction for the local community to relax, enjoy and learn in. The centre will focus on providing a high-quality visitor experience and creating a central information point for visitors to access to services, events and facilities.
The Welcome Centre will employ sustainable building technologies and the materials take inspiration from the surrounding landscape which include dry stone walls, chestnut timber cladding, a biodiverse roof and green walls. The contemporary appearance ensures this building reaches the ‘showpiece status it needs to have to serve as a memorable visitor attraction’
Upton Country Park has a substantial annual footfall, approximately 685,000 visitors and the new Welcome Centre will serve a wide variety of visitors, including the retired, young families, dog walkers, education groups, both local people and tourists. Interactive child friendly displays and insect homes will engage visitors and provide an introduction to the parks heritage.