A minimalist sketch of a modern building with angular design, surrounding trees, open landscape, and birds in the sky, architecture by MOXON Architects.

Great Fen Visitor Centre

Huntingdon, England

2013

Client The Great Fen

Buildings · Culture & Leisure

The patchwork landscape of East Anglia, with its intricate mesh of fens, fields, irrigation channels and woodland is reflected in this proposal through an overlapping spatial and material composition of public and private spaces enclosed with timber, corrugated sheet and rammed earth.

Four angles of a modern, geometric wooden building with sharp lines and an angular roof, with architecture by MOXON Architects.

This proposal is intended to function as a viewing device, providing unique and valuable views across, into - and onto - the fens and the ecosystem they support.

The building is split into two principle components, one partially submerged into the landscape and one held above it. The lower volume contains the much of the support and ancillary functions; as well as the public café; while the upper volume contains the principle entrance and the exhibition areas.

A modern, elevated building with a geometric shape, supported by columns, set in a landscape with tiered levels, architecture by MOXON Architects.

Cross-section views of a modern house with contemporary design, sloped roof, and large windows, shown in three different angles, architecture by MOXON Architects.

The incorporation of an ‘upside down’ courtyard, that opens out below the raised volume with a large aperture in the soffit, provides a plan view of the area of managed fen below the building. The external landscape is brought into the building, both for enjoyment and reflection but also in order that it can be included as an exhibit in its own right.

A minimalist architectural sketch of a two-level outdoor space with people, ducks, and fencing, with the ceiling composed of parallel lines, architecture by MOXON Architects.

Abstract geometric shape with layered, textured surfaces in pastel and neutral tones, on a white background, architecture by MOXON Architects.

A sketch of a modern building with a courtyard, parking lot, and surrounding trees, with architecture by MOXON Architects.

Modern architectural structure with wood cladding, cantilevered design, on a concrete platform, with trees in the background; architecture by MOXON Architects.

A lakeside view with tall grasses in the foreground, a modern wooden building in the distance, and a soft, minimal landscape, architecture by MOXON Architects.

A sequence of ribbon window, picture window and public balcony ring the exterior walls, each catering for a specific view.

The south pitch of the roof is opened out to form a roof terrace while the tables in the café at the base of the building are set at the water level of the fen immediately adjacent.