Roots and Shoots Environmental Learning Centre Building, Kennington Architecture Project, Images

Roots and Shoots Environmental Learning Centre UK

London Education and Environment Charity Building Development design by Hudson Architects, England

25 Jul 2016

Roots and Shoots Environmental Learning Centre in London

Design: Hudson Architects

Location: Kennington, South London, England, UK

Roots and Shoots’ new ‘Green Heart’ opens

Environmental learning centre brings natural world to young people and the community

Photos: David Perkins unless noted otherwise

Newly finished Roots and Shoots centre in Kennington:

The new environmental learning centre, ‘Natural Roots’, at the London education and environment charity Roots and Shoots has been officially opened by Liz Peace CBE, chair of property industry charity LandAid. LandAid gave a grant totalling over £150,000 to the project. Others such as Wacoco, The Ecological Building Society and The Royal Bank of Scotland, together with a number of smaller funders, also donated generously to make this project a reality.

Liz Peace with Roots and Shoots Director Linda Philips at Natural Roots:

photograph : Marc Hankinsh

Roots and Shoots provides vocational training in horticulture, floristry and retail, together with functional and life skills, to disadvantaged young people with additional needs. The new building, which sits alongside the award-winning half acre wild garden on Roots and Shoots’ Kennington site, will increase the charity’s capacity for helping young people. It will bring the natural world to more children and young people and be a valuable community resource. When complete, the building will be available for event and meeting hire, thus providing an additional income source to support Roots and Shoots’ environmental outreach.

Designed by Hudson Architects of Norwich to a brief to provide a learning centre in a green setting but with an urban feel and suitable for all seasons, the building uses natural materials. The exterior is cedar clad with a distinctive corten steel tower and the interior is lined with birch faced ply and floored throughout with oiled oak.

The small team which delivered the project to budget included structural engineers Rodrigues Associates, Saradas Limited, with Thorne Hiley as QS consultants. The building work was undertaken by builder NSJ Building Services. The total building budget was £218,000.

“We have a beautiful building that is the ‘Jewel in the Crown’ for our charity and we are enormously grateful for LandAid’s as well as our other funders’ support,” said Linda Phillips, Director of Roots and Shoots. “It’s the green heart of Roots and Shoots and will allow us to teach our young people the green skills they need to make them more employable. It is also a wonderful resource for schoolchildren and the local community”.

“The new Natural Roots centre shows how deeply committed to social action the property industry can be, and it was fantastic to see the finished building,” said Paul Morrish, CEO of LandAid. “With funding agreed before the launch of our new focus on youth homelessness, the centre will help to engage vulnerable young people in productive and interesting work to prepare them for the future”.

LandAid Chairman Liz Peace cutting the ribbon at Natural Roots in Kennington:

photograph : Marc Hankinsh

Roots and Shoots

Since 1982 Roots and Shoots has provided vocational training for young people from the inner city, mainly from the London boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark. The charity involves local schools and the wider community by establishing the site as an important green space for urban biodiversity.
www.rootsandshoots.org.uk ; twitter.com/rootshoot

LandAid

LandAid is the property industry charity, working to end youth homelessness in the UK. We bring the property industry together to support charities delivering life-changing services for young people who are or have been homeless, or who are at risk of homelessness in the future. Through a unique network of corporate partners, we invest funding and expertise where we can achieve lasting impact.

Roots and Shoots Environmental Learning Centre in London information / images received 250716

Address: Walnut Tree Walk, Kennington SE11 6DN
Phone: 020 7587 1131

Location: Walnut Tree Walk, Kennington, SE11 6DN, London, UK