Genesis Project
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External view of the pavillion entrance
Sue Barr (website) Download Original
Experimental teaching building for Somerset College of Arts and Technology
The scheme comprises an elegant central pavilion which gives access into five smaller, separate pavilions, each demonstrating and exploring different sustainable construction materials and methods including cob walls, rammed earth walls, straw bales, and clay blocks.
There is a a central main pavilion (called the steel pavilion – though mainly constructed from timber and glass), with four smaller surrounding, interlocked pavilions, respectively of earth, fired-clay blocks, straw bales and timber.
The building is an ongoing experiment - evaluation of the methods and materials will continue throughout its life. The Centre also demonstrates the benefits of sustainable urban drainage systems, designed to regulate and filter the flow of water into our rivers and urban drainage networks.
Data
- Begun: Oct 2004
- Completed: Dec 2005
- Floor area: 633m2
- Sector: Education
- Total cost: £1.6M
- Tender date: Mar 2004
- Procurement: GC/Works/1 with Quantities
- Address: Wellington Road, Taunton, TA1 5AX, United Kingdom
Professional Team 
- Architect: Architype Architects
- Project architects: Howard Meadowcroft, James Todd, Jonathan Hines, Leah Dempsey
- Client: Somerset College of Arts and Technology
- Project manager: Nisbet
- Planning supervisor: Nisbet Project Safety
- Structural engineer: Whitbybird
- Services engineer: Tandy Building Services
- Landscape architect: Robert Bray Associates
- Main contractor: D B Russell Construction
Suppliers
- Steel Structure: Melhuish and Bateman
- Joinery: Kat Carpentry
- Sedum roof: Blackdown Horticultural Consultants
- Blockwork: Lyng Construction