Last week we announced plans for a sustainable world-class convention centre at Low Wood Bay in the heart of the Lake Distric.
An artist’s impression of Low Wood Bay and the new Convention Centre
Update (02/05/12) We are pleased to announce the plans for a sustainable world-class convention centre at Low Wood Bay have been given the green light following the Lake District National Park Authority’s development control committee meeting today. The plans passed with a 12 to 1 majority vote in favour of the exciting development.
Our plans for the exciting new design are set to be heard at tomorrow’s Lake District National Park Authority’s development control committee meeting for the iconic facility located at Low Wood Bay Watersports Centre, which will incorporate ‘green’ energy features and will use locally sourced materials.
We already have planning permission for a large convention centre at the site, on the shore of Windermere. However, we believe the new cutting-edge designs will be much more attractive, more sensitive to the surroundings and will have a lower impact on the environment.
An artist’s impression of the Convention Centre
Tim Berry, director, said:
“As things stand we already have permission to build a large conference facility at Low Wood Bay. However, we feel that there is an opportunity to build a much more attractive and interesting building that is more in keeping with the natural surroundings and with a number of fantastic green features.
“We hope this iconic building will become a wonderful asset to South Lakeland, creating jobs and attracting business leaders and organisations from all over the country. If we are going to entice these people to come up here then we really need to give them the wow factor so they spread the word that the Lake District is a great place to come and do business.”
The 600-people capacity Convention Centre, which would be the largest in the Lake District, would also be one of the first commercial buildings in the UK to use a ‘ground source heat pump’ that would make use of latent heat at the bottom of the lake.
A separate planning application will also be sought for a hydro-electricity scheme on the adjacent Holbeck Ghyll stream. It is believed the hydro scheme, would meet the energy needs of the Convention Centre, with surplus electricity being supplied back into the national grid.
Other ‘eco’ features include the use of Lakeland stone and a living ‘green wall’ – a wall of living plants that suck in CO2 from the atmosphere. This, along with a flat sedum roof and mature planting, will help shield the centre and allow it to blend more sympathetically with the surroundings.
Since we announced the plans last week we are pleased it has sparked a varied debate and interest on the Westmorland Gazette, Twitter and Facebook. Ellis Butcher also published is own comments on the plans on his blog.
