St Davids Gateway and Oriel y Parc Gallery Scheme - Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority

27-Jan-10

Rural Areas and the Natural Environment Award Winner 2009

Supported by Welsh Assembly Government/Llywodraeth Cynulliad Cymru

Summary

Oriel y Parc, at the entrance to St David’s historic cathedral city provides a focal point for the area’s tourism industry. It makes a significant contribution to sustainable development and environmental awareness.

Background

The existing visitor centre was poorly sited in St David’s. Local roads and public transport were inadequate to meet the growing needs of both local residents and visitors. In developing the scheme, the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority sought to provide a better location for the visitor centre, a more sustainable transport network and to extend the provision of facilities for tourism beyond the traditional season. The scheme also sought to exploit opportunities like incorporating the Graham Sutherland collection into the site from a gallery elsewhere, and using the scheme to promote sustainable development and raise environmental awareness.

Project Description

The opening of Oriel y Parc in 2008 marked the culmination of a 20 year plan for the development of the National Park Authority’s Grove site. The scheme accommodates the National Park Visitor Centre, Oriel y Parc Gallery, educational facilities and a cafe. It also provides the city’s principal visitor car park and is strategically located to relieve traffic pressures on the city’s streets, providing the hub for coastal bus services around the St David’s peninsula.

Planning Achievement

The building has been sensitively and unobtrusively fitted into the local environment and landscape;
Sustainable development lies at the heart of the project, which has received a BREEAM ‘excellent’ rating. Building orientation, massing, fenestration and ventilation were key drivers at the planning stage. Systems and technologies deployed include a ground source heat pump, solar thermal system and photovoltaic panels. There has been considerable use of recycled materials and a long term waste and recycling strategy is in place. The car park incorporates permeable surfaces in line with SUDS best practice;
Design is inclusive for all, regardless of disability, age or gender;
The centre, gallery and education programmes promote awareness and understanding of the area’s landscapes, cultural and natural resources and the principles of sustainable living;
The site provides a hub for three of the County’s coastal bus services, and reduces traffic pressure on the narrow lanes of the wider St David’s peninsula by aiming to encourage visitors to park, receive their orientation at the National Park Visitor Centre and proceed to tour the area on foot or by bus. The coastal bus network was developed through the Greenways Sustainable Transport Partnership;
Although no individual element of the scheme is in itself original, its particular contribution is that each strand has been woven together to provide a centre that is innovative in terms of combining a building of high environmental quality, with a strong environmental awareness raising purpose and a significant contribution to sustainable tourism;
The scheme demonstrates a commendable level of collaborative working between a large number of organisations and a high quality of planning, design, construction and management.

Key Participants

Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, National Museum of Wales and Smith Roberts.