Brentwood Visitor Centre

A new education led visitor centre, with public gardens and eight family homes

Satish Jassal Architect has prepared a masterplan for a brownfield site in Brentwood. The site is currently comprised of derelict stables, kennels, barns and two homes that have not been used for many years.

The masterplan has three components:

1. Central gardens
2. Eight family homes
3. Visitor centre

The masterplan is organised around the central gardens. The central gardens will be used for outdoor recreation and as an educational tool for local people, in particular, children.  Both the visitor centre and the family homes are oriented onto the central gardens via direct landscaped pathways and visual vistas.
 

The landscape and the public realm are to be an integrated part of the proposed development, designed in tandem with the buildings. The landscape will comprise a series of legible gardens with distinct characters that allow people to orientate themselves and enjoy various experiences as they move through the gardens.
 

The landscaped central garden is divided into character zones where there will be a mixture of formal /informal planting and lawn areas. It is proposed that some of the character zones will be used to demonstrate how local plants are grown and how they change with the seasons. Others will be used to grow vegetables, which will act as a learning tool for local children. The visitor centre will facilitate this learning further using direct and digital learning.