How we built the Core

We designed the Core, our education centre that tells the story of plants, using natural forms (biomimicry) and sustainable construction.

Sustainable construction

We worked with mechanical and electrical consultants Buro Happold to reduce the environmental impact of the building as much as possible. Innovative features include:

Energy-efficiency

• The walls are super-insulated with Warmcel, made from recycled newspapers
• A lobby reduces heat loss through the front door
• Underground tubes warm the air before it enters the building

Renewable energy

• Photovoltaic panels on the roof provide electricity, although the building is mainly powered through a renewable energy tariff.

Ethically sourced materials

• The beams are made of Forest Stewardship Council-certified Red Spruce. They're constructed using a technique known as Glulam (glue-laminated layers of timber), a strong material whose offcuts are used as a fuel.
• The metal roof comes from a copper mine with one of the highest environmental and social standards in the world, the Bingham Canyon, owned by US-based Kennecott Utah Copper Company. We worked closely with our partners at international minerals company Rio Tinto to source the copper specially.

Recycled materials

• The green tiles in the floor were originally Heineken bottles, the entrance mats are made from recycled truck tyres, and the cafe floor is made up of reclaimed wood.

Water saving measures

• Automatic taps save water (by turning themselves off)

Biomimicry: nature's architecture

Designed by Jolyon Brewis of Nicholas Grimshaw and Partners, the Core is based on nature's architecture - what we call 'biomimcry'.

It incorporates a central trunk and canopy roof that shades the ground and harvests the sun. The most striking feature - the roof created from an intricate web of curved timber beams - is based on Fibonacci spirals, a pattern found in many natural forms including the seeds of a sunflower head, pine cones and snail shells.

The Seed sculpture

At the centre of the Core sits Peter Randall-Page's monumental seed-shaped sculpture based on these same natural patterns.

One of the biggest sculptures in history made from a single piece of rock, the Seed started life as a 167-tonne boulder extracted from De Lank Quarry, Cornwall. At 70-tonnes it weighs as much as 10 elephants. It is made of prime silver-grey Cornish granite estimated to be 300 million years old. Carved into its surface is a pattern as intricate as the head of a sunflower.

Its creator Peter Randall-Page says: "The sculpture within the chamber will, I hope, be an object of contemplation and meditation, a still quiet hub; both fossil and seed. The result of this collaboration … unite concept and form, object and structure, art and architecture in a unique and cohesive whole.”