Earth Centre, Doncaster

Last updated

The Earth Centre, Doncaster was a large-scale visitor attraction which was established to provide both education and entertainment around environmental issues and sustainable practices. It was located on a 400-acre former colliery site in Conisbrough, Metropolitan borough of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England, which was seen at the time as one of the most environmentally damaged areas in the country. Opened in 1999, it used funding from the Millennium Commission, the European Commission and English Partnerships. It closed its doors in 2004. [1]

Contents

Background

The Earth Centre was located on a 400-acre (1.6 km2) former derelict colliery site. The Cadeby Main Colliery was a coal mine sunk in 1889 in Cadeby, South Yorkshire, England. It commenced production in 1893 and was worked until it was closed in 1986. [2]

Jonathan Smales, former Director of Greenpeace and John Letts, publisher and Life President of the Museum of the Year Award , envisioned a museum for the millennium that would encompass 'the basic elements of earth, fire, water and animal, vegetable and human life'. [3] It was then steered through 10 years of lottery and private funding by Jonathan Smales. The project was awarded funding of £21 million by the Millennium Commission, £10 million from the European Commission, £5.5 million from English Partnerships, with £1.37 million in landfill-tax credits and £4 million from the private sector adding to £42 million overall.

Derek Lovejoy Partnership [4] produced a masterplan for the site, set in the valley of the canalised River Don, in January 1997 and work began that autumn with a land reclamation project by the Arup Group.

Design

The masterplan study by Derek Lovejoy Partnership, with Battle McCarthy [5] as engineer, was a model document based on a series of concept plans and sections to describe energy flows, agriculture, waste recycling, play and sculpture. This study set the location of the theme areas and the main circulation pattern.

Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios were then appointed to help with the masterplan process, and thereafter to design the Arrival buildings. Their aim was to ‘demonstrate the potential of environmental design principles, integrating a low energy building with a highly visible solar generator.’ [6] This made a significant statement at the main entrance to the Earth Centre, emphasising the importance of on-site electricity generation using photovoltaics as a way of reducing dependency on fossil fuels and therefore reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Landscape

Grant Associates were appointed as the landscape architects. Grant Associates’ role was to work with the engineer in co-ordinating levels, and with the architect in locating the buildings, as well as designing both hard and soft landscape. The idea was to ‘bring back the site from the dead by renewal’. [6]

Grant Associates based their work at the site around principles of energy efficiency, water conservation, recycling and use of non-polluting materials to provide the basis for sustainable development. It featured a fully integrated network of water management that incorporated rainwater harvesting and the treatment, storage and recycling of water for use in irrigation and water features and as a wildlife habitat. [7]

The scheme also included areas of productive woodland, ecological grasslands and wetlands arranged around a central area of innovative gardens. New gardens were based on organic horticultural principles and explored unusual associations of planting that offered benefits for shelter, wildlife, food and timber. Distinctive structures were developed using a combination of local stone, green oak and steel to establish a unique contemporary character within the site that complemented a historic surrounding landscape.

Solar Canopy

The Solar Canopy, which boasted the biggest array of photovoltaic cells in the UK, connected the restaurant building with the Planet Earth Galleries which were built into the earth. The Solar Canopy was a distorted timber space frame constructed using round wood poles of indigenous softwood with galvanised steel connectors. The elaborate geometry created by the trapezoidal frame and the almost random supporting posts formed a dynamic contrast with the purity and simplicity of the adjacent building forms.

The canopy was roofed with photovoltaic cells embedded in glass. The cells were spaced 4mm apart with a 60mm space round the edge so that approximately 25% of the daylight striking the canopy penetrated through it.

The scheme was completed with the benefit of a THERMIE grant from the European Union as well as the funding from the Millennium Commission and the European Regional Development Fund.

Planet Earth Galleries

Buried in the earth, the Planet Earth Galleries incorporated a huge underground air distribution and thermal storage system integrated into the foundations, known as a labyrinth. Air supplied to the building was drawn through the labyrinth, actively cooling the supply air in the summer and warming it in the winter. As a result, the building had highly comfortable internal conditions with lower carbon emissions than natural ventilation, while avoiding the need for air conditioning systems. The Planet Earth Galleries featured exhibitions illustrating environmental damage inflicted on the Earth. This included a notable work by American stage designer, sculptor and architect George Tsypin, which featured a major installation of moving architectural elements, videos and 200 sculptures.

The Pavilion

The “Waterworks” pavilion [8] demonstrated the purification of water by a so-called “living machine”. After initial anaerobic treatment, waste water from the site was fed through a series of tanks along the length of the pavilion, where it was purified by water plants until it achieved drinking-water quality. The pavilion had a clear, simple structure with the steel skeleton frame standing on the concrete cross-walls that form the divisions between the tanks. The lightweight ETFE membrane cushions to the facade and roof facilitated a slenderly dimensioned structure and high UV transmission. It was seen as ‘an engaging interpretation of how water is recycled'. [9]

Awards

The Arrivals building (which included The Solar Canopy) and the Planet Earth Galleries won the 2002 Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Award, with the judges commenting that ‘sustainability meets aesthetics and demonstrates it can provide all the elements of good architecture’.

Construction

Phase 2

The site in 2008 Building at the now defunct Earth Centre - geograph.org.uk - 806920.jpg
The site in 2008

Earth Centre re-opened in May 2001. More attractions were built as money from grants and other sources became available. A pirate ship was built, a crazy golf course and an indoor 'Amazon Adventure' play area.

Education visits continued and an increasing number of customers were initially attracted to the facilities. However, by 2003 it was obvious that the target visitor numbers were not being met, and by 2004, as increasing numbers of staff were leaving, it was evident that the centre was unviable.

In September 2004 the attraction closed to the public, and only pre-booked school parties were allowed. By the end of October, the Earth Centre was put in the hands of administrators.

Subsequent use

Abandoned buildings (2010) A Good Idea but it Failed (geograph.org.uk 2388125).jpg
Abandoned buildings (2010)

The site was featured as an important location in the remade version of the BBC television series Survivors , aired in December 2008. [10] The site was also used again in 2009 for the second series of Survivors. [11]

Sold

In February 2010, it was revealed that Doncaster Council was spending £200,000 a year to maintain the site. The centre was put up for sale in October 2010 and, on 23 March 2011, was sold for an undisclosed sum to an educational firm called Kingswood. This firm planned to develop an activity centre for school children and hoped to create 200 jobs. [12] The activity centre opened in 2012. [13] [14] It is still in operation using some Earth Centre buildings. [15]

The car park area south of the River Don has subsequently been sold to a housing developer for the construction of 177 houses. [16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conisbrough</span> Town in South Yorkshire, England

Conisbrough is a town within the City of Doncaster, in South Yorkshire, England. It is roughly midway between Doncaster and Rotherham, and is built alongside the River Don at 53°29′N1°14′W. It has a ward population of 14,333.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Worksop</span> Market town in Bassetlaw, Nottinghamshire, England

Worksop is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is located 15 miles (24 km) south of Doncaster, 15 miles (24 km) south-east of Sheffield and 24 miles (39 km) north of Nottingham. Located close to Nottinghamshire's borders with South Yorkshire and Derbyshire, it is on the River Ryton and not far from the northern edge of Sherwood Forest. Other nearby towns include Chesterfield, Gainsborough, Mansfield and Retford. The population of the town was recorded at 44,733 in the 2021 Census.

Expo 2000 was a World Expo held in Hanover, Germany from 1 June to 31 October 2000. It was located on the Hanover Fairground, which is the largest exhibition ground in the world. Initially, some 40 million people were expected to attend the exhibition over the course of months; however, eventually with less than half of this number, the Expo was a flop and turned out to be a financial failure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elsecar</span> Village in South Yorkshire, England

Elsecar is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. It is near to Jump and Wentworth, it is also 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Hoyland, 6 miles (9.7 km) south of Barnsley and 8 miles (13 km) north-east of Sheffield. Elsecar falls within the Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Ward of Hoyland Milton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thurnscoe</span> Village in South Yorkshire, England

Thurnscoe is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. The village falls within the Dearne North ward of the Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council. Historically within the West Riding of Yorkshire, the village is approximately 9 miles (14 km) from Barnsley and 8 miles (13 km) from Doncaster. It is served by Thurnscoe railway station with bus links provided by Stagecoach. In 2011, it had a population of 8,687.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earthship</span> Style of architecture that uses native materials and upcycled materials to build homes

An Earthship is a style of architecture developed in the late 20th century to early 21st century by architect Michael Reynolds. Earthships are designed to behave as passive solar earth shelters made of both natural and upcycled materials such as earth-packed tires. Earthships may feature a variety of amenities and aesthetics, and are designed to withstand the extreme temperatures of a desert, managing to stay close to 70 °F (21 °C) regardless of outside weather conditions. Earthship communities were originally built in the desert of northern New Mexico, near the Rio Grande, and the style has spread to small pockets of communities around the globe, in some cases in spite of legal opposition to its construction and adoption.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rossington</span> Civil parish and former mining village in South Yorkshire, England

Rossington is a civil parish and former mining village in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England and is surrounded by countryside and the market towns of Bawtry and Tickhill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cadeby, South Yorkshire</span> Village and civil parish in South Yorkshire, England

Cadeby is a village and civil parish in the City of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. The population at the census of 2011 was 203. It is about five miles west of Doncaster, and four miles east of Mexborough.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jay Pritzker Pavilion</span> Bandshell in Millennium Park in Chicago, Illinois, United States

Jay Pritzker Pavilion, also known as Pritzker Pavilion or Pritzker Music Pavilion, is a bandshell in Millennium Park in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is located on the south side of Randolph Street and east of the Chicago Landmark Historic Michigan Boulevard District. The pavilion was named after Jay Pritzker, whose family is known for owning Hyatt Hotels. The building was designed by architect Frank Gehry, who accepted the design commission in April 1999; the pavilion was constructed between June 1999 and July 2004, opening officially on July 16, 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dynamic Earth (Edinburgh)</span> Science center in Edinburgh, Scotland

Dynamic Earth is a not-for-profit visitor attraction and science centre in Edinburgh, and is Scotland's largest interactive visitor attraction. It is located in Holyrood, beside the Scottish Parliament building and at the foot of Salisbury Crags. It is a registered charity under Scottish law and is owned as The Dynamic Earth Charitable Trust. The centre was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denaby Main</span> Village in South Yorkshire, England

Denaby Main is a village situated between Mexborough and Conisbrough in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. The village falls within the Doncaster MBC ward of Conisbrough and Denaby. It was built by the Denaby Main Colliery Company to house its workers and their families, and originally given the name Denaby Main Colliery Village, to distinguish it from the village of Denaby, about ⅔ mile away on the road to Hooton Roberts and Kilnhurst; from that time, the old village became known as Old Denaby. In due course the "Colliery Village" part of the name was lost, leaving the village to be known as Denaby Main.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Don Navigation</span> Waterway navigation in South Yorkshire, England

The River Don Navigation was the result of early efforts to make the River Don in South Yorkshire, England, navigable between Fishlake and Sheffield. The Dutch engineer Cornelius Vermuyden had re-routed the mouth of the river in 1626, to improve drainage, and the new works included provision for navigation, but the scheme did not solve the problem of flooding, and the Dutch River was cut in 1635 to link the new channel to Goole. The first Act of Parliament to improve navigation on the river was obtained in 1726, by a group of Cutlers based in Sheffield; the Corporation of Doncaster obtained an Act in the following year for improvements to the lower river. Locks and lock cuts were built and by 1751 the river was navigable to Tinsley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victoria Leeds</span> Retail development in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England

Victoria Leeds is a shopping district and leisure area in central Leeds, comprising the 1990 Victoria Quarter, an arcaded complex of restored 19th century and contemporary shopping arcades, and the 2016 Victoria Gate development. Notable for its role in the regeneration of Leeds' city centre, and a programme of restoration and reuse which included commissiong the largest work of stained glass work in Europe, designed by artist Brian Clarke, to cover the newly-pedestrianised Queen Victoria Street, the 1990 scheme created a covered retail district of linked arcades. In 2016 ,the Victoria Quarter was merged with the newly built Victoria Gate complex to form the largest premium retail and leisure venue in Northern England. The district includes a casino and major stores such as Harvey Nichols and John Lewis and Partners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exelon Pavilions</span> Four buildings in Chicago, Illinois, US

The Exelon Pavilions are four buildings that generate electricity from solar energy and provide access to underground parking in Millennium Park in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The Northeast Exelon Pavilion and Northwest Exelon Pavilion are located on the northern edge of the park along Randolph Street, and flank the Harris Theater. The Southeast Exelon Pavilion and Southwest Exelon Pavilion are located on the southern edge of the park along Monroe Street, and flank the Lurie Garden. Together the pavilions generate 19,840 kilowatt-hours (71,400 MJ) of electricity annually, worth about $2,350 per year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yorkshire Main Colliery</span> Former coal mine in South Yorkshire, England

Yorkshire Main Colliery was a coal mine situated within the village of Edlington, south west of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solar Umbrella house</span> Private residence in Venice, Los Angeles

The Solar Umbrella House is a private residence in Venice, Los Angeles, California, remodeled using active and passive solar design strategies to enable the house to function independent of the electrical grid. The design was inspired by Paul Rudolph’s 1953 Umbrella House for Philip Hanson Hiss III's Lido Shores, Sarasota, development. Originally a small 650-square-foot (60 m2) bungalow, the owners added 1,150 sq ft (107 m2) in 2005, remodeling it in such a way that the house is almost 100% energy neutral.

Dinnington Main Colliery was a coal mine situated in the village of Dinnington, near Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thorne Colliery</span> Former coal mine in South Yorkshire, England

Thorne Colliery was a large colliery within the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster, South Yorkshire in the South Yorkshire Coalfield.

The INTEGER Millennium House is a demonstration house in Watford, England that opened to the public in 1998. It was renamed The Smart Home after being refurbished in 2013. The house was originally intended to showcase innovations in design and construction, building intelligence, and environmental performance. The INTEGER design included many innovative features, including environmental technology such as a green roof and a grey water recycling system, home automation that included a building management system and an intelligent security system, and innovative technical systems such as under-floor trench heating. In 2013, the house was refurbished and retrofitted with a variety of new and upgraded features, including a building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) array, which altogether halved its carbon emissions and increased its energy efficiency by 50%. Since its creation, the house has garnered numerous awards, appeared on Tomorrow's World on BBC Television, hosted thousands of visitors, and influenced mainstream construction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conisbrough Viaduct</span> Former railway viaduct in South Yorkshire, England

Conisbrough Viaduct is a former railway viaduct, near to Cadeby and Conisbrough in South Yorkshire, England. The viaduct consists of two sections of brick and stone on each bank, connected by a lattice girder section, some 113–116 feet (34–35 m) over the River Don. The height and space were required should shipping need to navigate along the river. The viaduct carried the Dearne Valley Railway over the River Don between 1909 and 1966, after closure it was converted into a foot and cycle path. The structure is grade II listed, and is notable for being one of the first bridges in Britain to be built using a rope system above the viaduct known as a "Blondin".

References

  1. ↑ "Earth Centre loses last lifeline". BBC News. 12 November 2004. Retrieved 26 November 2009.
  2. ↑ "Cadeby Main Colliery" . Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  3. ↑ "Planning for the planet: the Earth Centre in Doncaster". www.gardenvisit.com. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  4. ↑ "Derek Lovejoy Papers". 29 May 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  5. ↑ "Battle McCarthy | PRS Architects". www.prsarchitects.com. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  6. 1 2 "Work | View | FCBStudios". fcbstudios.com. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  7. ↑ "Earth Centre". Grant Associates. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  8. ↑ "Pavilion at Earth Centre, Doncaster". Detail-online.com. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  9. ↑ "Earth Centre phase one open to the public - 1 April 1999". 16 June 2011. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  10. ↑ Ian Wylie, Survivors: Nikki Amuka-Bird Archived 22 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine , 3 December 2008
  11. ↑ Second TV spot for Earth Centre site?, , 10 February 2009
  12. ↑ "Doncaster's failed Earth Centre site is sold off". BBC News. 23 March 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
  13. ↑ "Flagship Educational Activity Centre to Open in South Yorkshire". Radiolynxcontent. 23 March 2011. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
  14. ↑ "Dearne Valley - Kingswood". www.kingswood.co.uk. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
  15. ↑ "Dearne Valley Yorkshire | Outdoor Education | Kingswood". www.kingswood.co.uk. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  16. ↑ "Major new housing scheme at Denaby". South Yorkshire Times. 22 January 2015. Retrieved 15 December 2016.

53°29′30″N1°14′09″W / 53.49156°N 1.23580°W / 53.49156; -1.23580

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.