Visitor Centre opens in Dartford

The construction of the Dartford Greenheart Visitors Centre located in Central Park has recently been completed. This forms the centre piece of the concept to restore the parks Edwardian heritage which has seen a new bandstand, bridges over the River Darent and a water play area being built.

Bailey Partnership provided a full multi-disciplinary service incorporating architecture, services and structural engineering, project management, quantity surveying and CDM coordination. We developed the original designs which increased in size to accommodate a Visitor Centre / café, with panoramic views across the park towards the bandstand and over the water play area, a kitchen and stores, Park Keepers office, changing areas and toilets including an accessible W.C.

The location of the centre within a flood plain meant the building had to be raised out of the ground. Advantage was made of this by providing a wide accessible decking around the building at different levels and with various points of access but primarily with a direct link to the water play area.

A number of environmental credentials were designed into the scheme, using an air source heat pump to feed the underfloor heating, solar water heating, grey water harvesting for urinal and toilet flushing utilising the water storage from the water play tanks and natural ventilation via the roof vent now donning an impressive weathervane.

The Greenheart Visitor Centre was opened to the public on 26th March 2011 by Jeremy Kite, Leader of the Council with an exceptional attendance by local people. The building is considered a great success and a major asset to the park and to Dartford.