Wood Park Farm Visitors Centre, Neston

Wood Park Farm Visitors Centre, Neston

The Old Dairy building was a partially redundant farm building located on The University of Liverpool’s Wood Park Farm near Neston. The farm was owned and used by the University as a working and teaching farm as part of their Veterinary faculty.

The use of the building was a key driver in the design proposals. As the building was to be used for seminars for farmers from around the country, special consideration was given to how design features could facilitate the building’s use. This included the installation of Category 5e cabling to facilitate a “Virtual Farm” allowing delegates to remotely view working practices at Wood Park Farm and on other farms around the country without having to leave the conference centre.

Due to the budget available to the University, funding for the general upkeep of the building would be minimal. As such the design of the building needed to reflect this. Issues such as life cycle costs and the choice of materials were taken into account to minimise the costs of maintaining the building.

“Following completion of the works, the expectations of the client, end-users and the client’s financial backers expectations were exceeded. Various groups, including local schools, Tesco farmers and the University’s own students, have used the building since its opening and found the facilities greatly enhance their learning experience.”

Eddie Stanley – University of Liverpool