Image © Agile Property & Homes 2021 Earth Trust Phase 1 - Earth Lab
Stakeholders from across the county came together this week to celebrate the opening of Earth Trust’s new ‘Earth Lab’ and ‘Innovation Hub’, as part of the Environmental Learning Charity’s ‘Building Nature In’ event.
The opening of the spaces – which form part of a much larger innovative programme from Earth Trust to engage and inspire people to care for the environment – was centered at the core of a discussion around the following hypothesis: ‘Can we design, build and live in places where people and nature thrive in balance?’.
More than 100 representatives from local authorities, advisory bodies, planning, construction & development organisations, social enterprise, and social and environmental groups came together at the event, which saw a panel of industry experts identify the shifts that will help realise a vision where people and nature live in harmony and discuss how key challenges can be overcome.
A living demonstration of ‘Building Nature In’, ‘Earth Lab’ itself showcases a host of eco-friendly materials and features, incorporating natural building materials that lock up carbon.
Designed to sit in harmony with the landscape, the construction comprises a timber frame, straw insulation panels, a rammed earth wall (using soil from the location) and a full-depth wildflower roof in keeping with those grown locally, while using the minimum amount of concrete possible.
Completed less than a year ago, ‘Earth Lab’ provides flexible classroom space, used to deliver science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) and art-based environmental education – in the process doubling Earth Trust’s capacity to engage young people and provide opportunities for bringing environmental science to life throughout the curriculum.
The project has also seen the renovation of a former barn into a new ‘Innovation Hub’, which offers multi-use business units for sustainability-conscious businesses, as well as acting as an inspiring welcome for visitors.
OxLEP secured £1.49m of funding for the project via the government’s Local Growth Fund – the overall cost of the project is £2.9m.
