Our award-winning buildings were designed to sit in harmony with the landscape.
Gloucester Services won a RIBA National Award in 2016 for its significant contribution to architecture.
The buildings were designed by Glenn Howells Architects (GHA) in response to the challenges posed by our location in a sensitive landscape area.
Our development site was on farmland overlooked by hills. To our east lies the Cotswolds escarpment, part of the Cotswolds AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty). To our west, Robinswood Hill is a country park and viewpoint cherished by the local community.
The objective was to create buildings and car parks that made a minimal visual impact on the landscape when viewed from these elevated points.
Our architects achieved an innovative and beautiful solution.
They moulded the land to create sunken car parks, crafting our buildings around them as if embedding them into the earth.
Beneath undulating living roofs planted with grasses and wildflowers, our buildings flow with the landscape, invisible when viewed from above.
Our interiors honour the local landscape in a contemporary scheme that champions craft skills.
We used carefully sourced natural materials to create a feeling of heft and character, including Cotswold dry stone and the magnificent Forest of Dean ash stems suspended over our Kitchen counters.
What was previously low-grade agricultural land is now a site that promotes biodiversity, for example in the ponds next to our peaceful outdoor seating areas and in our Growing Communities space at Northbound.
We were delighted to receive a Building with Nature award from Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust.
This was in recognition of green infrastructure that enhances ecological connectivity. Our SuDS (Sustainable Drainage) system, for example, creates wildlife habitats while managing rainwater runoff from the car parks and hard standing areas.
We are extremely proud that our buildings have been recognised by a host of regional and national awards, including the ACE Engineering Excellence Awards 2015 and the Civic Voice National Design Awards 2015.
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