Stonehenge Learning Centre & STEM Learning Lab
Stonehenge Learning Centre & STEM Learning Lab
We are the structural engineers for two new additional buildings at Stonehenge – a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Wiltshire, England. The construction of a New Learning Centre and a replica Neolithic Communal Structure will provide new learning facilities to enhance the appreciation and interpretation of the site.
The design of the New Learning Centre is intended to allow the building to blend into its rugged surroundings, with materials that are natural, low-carbon and compostable where possible. We worked closely with the architects to ensure only natural ventilation was necessary, with minimal heating and cooling required. Additionally, the client also proposes to offset the electricity used in the development via a new set of solar panels that are to be fitted to an existing building on the site.
Our structural engineering supports these targets through a series of interventions. For the foundations, a set of concrete strip footings have been designed to bear in to the un-weathered chalk using recycled and locally-sourced aggregates. At ground floor level, the concrete slab be externally insulated with a low-carbon, expanding polyurethane foam to create a thermally-massive floor which will absorb and retain heat internally. The external walls will be constructed from thick monolithic perforated clay blocks, requiring very little mortar and no additional reinforcement. The blocks require no additional oil-based insulation to either face and are fired at a low temperature to provide outstanding thermal mass performance and low embodied carbon, as well as excellent acoustic properties. They will be clad externally with natural timber batons and rendered internally with a lime plaster. Finally, the timber roof will be constructed with a mixture of glulam columns and clefted sweet chestnut trunk columns, all of which is WSC certified and locally sourced where possible. An eco-wood fibre insulation for the roof sits in-between the glulam beams.
The project was granted planning approval in March 2024 and is due to start on site in summer 2024.
Client English Heritage
Architect AOC Architecture
WATCH:
Find out more about how English Heritage hopes to develop Learning at Stonehenge - Inspiring the Future.