About The Client
As the children’s TV phenomenon broke UK records with merchandise sales of £200m for 2010, the world’s first Peppa Pig World opened in Hampshire, featuring one of the most sustainably viable buildings in the South. Located within the Paulton’s Family Park - the development represents a £6 million investment for the family-owned business.
The Brief
With a striking 10,000 ft2 wildflower-roofed building, planted with native flowers and vegetation, featuring ‘wind-catchers’ for natural ventilation and a rainwater harvesting irrigation system - Peppa Pig World was the design creation of HPW Architects and employs innovative environmental technologies that remain in keeping with its National Park location.
Pivotal to the success of the design was finding a structural solution, which would not only offer large, open internal spaces and carry the considerable load of a green roof, but also meet an aesthetic specification commensurate with a public facility where the structure formed part of the story being told.
The Solution
Harry Stafford, Project Architect for HPW, explains: “As specialists in both leisure and retail, we were very conscious of the need for creating the right environment for the children using the building."
"Internally we chose to specify ‘soft’ materials to avoid an industrial look in the children’s play area - so a glulam structure was the perfect solution. Until we contacted B&K Structures, we were concerned it would not be affordable. However, not only was their price the most competitive, but the company’s design service was also exceptional and their collaboration and coordination was superb.”
The outcome is one of the South’s most sustainable buildings which perfectly echoes the World of Peppa Pig with a ground floor of 9,000ft2 plus two mezzanine floors for storage and public use, totalling 4,000ft2.
The large building that houses the new cafe, indoor play area and ‘Peppa Pig Shop’ fits perfectly within Peppa Pig World. We wanted something that was bespoke to Paulton’s and away from the usual square steel structures that often house this sort of attraction.The huge exposed glulam beams, the sweeping building lines, the grass roof and the stunning glazed frontage combine perfectly to give us a contemporary, and a beautiful looking, iconic structure befitting of a national attraction like Peppa Pig World.
Richard Mancey
Managing Director
Paulton's Family Theme Park
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