The brief was to design a new visitors’ centre in Cambridgeshire that would become integral to the Great Fen Vision, seeking to promote learning and curiosity and create a living and evolving fenland landscape for wildlife and people.

Our concept was based around the idea of providing a view to the future development of the fens whilst enabling the natural environment to flourish in harmony. We wanted to develop a design that would become a focal point and symbol of the fens, drawing people in to discover this exciting environment.

Verticality became our main focus as it contrasts the very flat farmland area and it provides the perfect platform from which to educate visitors about the Great Fen Master plan.

Moving on from our conceptual response, our design focused on a structure that gives visitors a bird’s eye view of the changing landscape. The tower would become an iconic structure; seen from a great distance and providing a visual reference point in the landscape.