Lathams’ fishing lodge and interpretive exhibition at Thornton Reservoir, Leicestershire, was awarded a Civic Trust Commendation for its innovative approach and design.
Severn Trent commissioned us to create a fisherman’s lodge, visitor centre and WC accommodation on a woodland edge location near to the reservoir. Instead of creating a clearing in the woodland, the decision was taken to bring the building forward to the end of the water, using piles driving into the water to carry a stilted timber walkway.
The building itself was based on a combined concept of an upturned boat and the section through the curving body of a fish. The exposed aspect informed the creation of a smooth and solid building to resist weathering, with a masonry plinth rising on the waterside to accept doors and windows. The curved ‘hull’ of the roof was covered in cedar shingles – a low embodied-energy product which weathers well, allows a natural colour to develop, but also mimics the scales of a fish.
