A new £5 million visitor centre has been opened at the iconic Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire.

Completed by Woodhead Construction and designed by JDDK Architects, the new centre includes a contemporary reception area, retail space and a double height atrium with a café.

The national building services consultancy Building Services Design (BSD) provided mechanical and electrical engineering (M&E) services, with Kartar Consulting delivering employers agent and quantity surveying services.

The Sherwood Forest Visitor Centre is run by an RSPB-led consortium, working together with Nottinghamshire County Council.

Chris O'Boyle, associate director at BSD, said: "The amazing new visitor centre is a predominantly wooden building, which required entirely exposed services. This meant that we had to create a design that was conscious of the overall aesthetic; considering both the centre itself as well as the surroundings.

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"Sherwood Forest is obviously a site of significant natural importance, so we needed to design a building that was both visually appealing as well as practically functioning.

"We managed this by ensuring that all high-level services followed the curvature of the building, particularly the high-level containment which houses the electrical cable. The roof has a unique, curved shape which means the containment baskets are more prominent and act as feature of the internal space."

He continued: "It was important for the client that the building was also as environmentally friendly as possible.

"We completed a considerable amount of thermal modelling to make sure that it achieved its required 'B' energy rating. As the site is quite tight, we installed air source heat pumps – rather than ground heat pumps – which is just as environmentally friendly but requires much less space and means that the required heating and hot water is available on demand.

"We're incredibly proud to have been part of such a transformative project, which I'm sure will be a well-used and widely-enjoyed facility for the RSPB and Sherwood Forest's visitors."

The centre was officially opened during the Robin Hood Festival.

(CM/MH)