Bilska de Beaupuy
For the Sevenoaks Nature and Wellbeing Centre (SNWC), our aim has been to design a space where all people can feel at ease and retreat from their daily stresses to regenerate and nurture their innate connections with nature. Our profound belief is that interacting with Nature, from the act of feeling, contemplating, to the one of exploring is key to mental wellbeing. Our vision has been to create a building that transports people to a wholly new world, a building that exposes opportunities for people to connect with themselves and nature; a building that creates wellbeing.
The SNWC is a building designed to create connections with nature and wellbeing for all people, from tall to small. We have integrated elements of coherence, complexity, readability and mystery to our design as they are key in the reasoning of why people would tend to appreciate a space or not and what elements or features would tend to make people feel good in a specific space. The rationale behind is that people need to sense these elements within their environment to satisfy two very important human needs – to need to understand a space and the need to explore a space.
Our inspiration for the plan of the building comes from the serpent, ancient symbol of healing and of 'one is all'. The serpent shape creates coherent and readable space and its curves create invitation, complexity and mystery. Furthermore, the spaces remain on human scale and differentiation of rooms atmospheres provide interactive and multi-dimensional ways of connecting with nature. The serpent building typology creates sensorial and experiential connections. These connections stimulate our mind, brain and bodies in a way that enables them to rest, recover and regenerate. Bright green and leafy courtyards rustling their leaves within the morning breeze, autumn views from the cafe or morning yoga on the wooden floors of the studio, pergola sun patterns spreading throughout the lobby surfaces, the rugged yet convoluted patterns of the earthen floors are all examples of how our senses can connect to experiences of physiological or mental wellbeing. Building transparencies through open view windows bring visual connection between different spaces, each housing different experiences and activities for visitors to learn, relax and connect with nature and themselves.
SNWC will create well being through building design, inspire visitors to learn about wildlife, participate in protecting wildlife and the environment and provide functional and financial sustainability. Lastly, we believe the "the connections with nature" we have integrated within the design of the building will not only benefit visitors in their health and mental rest but will predispose them to connect and learn about nature in an effective and spontaneous manner.
"If what we build, our interventions in the natural situation, aligns itself with the attributes of nature, perhaps it can in some didactice or other contributing way – as model, as symbol – inspire the inhabitants to align themselves in a more beneficial and meaningful way with the natural forces, the natural conditions, the natural rhythms of life. Surely there are benefits to be derived from living close to, and in harmony with nature."
