Press Release
THE SAVILL BUILDING FINALIST IN RIBA STIRLING PRIZE 2007
6 October 2007
The Royal Landscape congratulates The Museum of Modern Literature in Marbach am Neckar, by David Chipperfield Architects, winners of the RIBA Stirling Prize 2007, and is delighted that The Savill Building, Windsor Great Park, was a finalist in this prestigious award. One of only two UK candidates, The Savill Building was commissioned by The Crown Estate and designed by Glen Howells and was opened in June 2006.
Philip Everett, Deputy Ranger of The Crown Estate’s Windsor Great Park says: “We are delighted that The Savill Building has been a finalist for such a prestigious prize. Working in partnership with Glenn Howells has been a wonderful experience and he has created a stunning building which has met The Royal Landscape’s design brief impeccably. We wanted a functional building which provided a focal point for The Savill Garden, whilst mirroring the natural landscape forms around it. We also wanted the building to be constructed from sustainable materials. Glenn Howells rose to the challenge and has created an iconic building which is the gateway to The Royal Landscape, encompassing The Savill Garden, The Valley Gardens and Virginia Water.
“It is a tribute to all concerned that the end product is such an exciting and challenging building which also excels in its purpose to provide the facilities required, including shop, restaurant, lecture room, lavatories and exhibition space, to accommodate the needs of the thousands of visitors who come to enjoy The Royal Landscape and Windsor Great Park. Since June 2006, over 400,000 people have visited The Savill Building.”
The Crown Estate’s Keeper of the Gardens Mark Flanagan, added: “For me, the great success of The Savill Building is the seamless way it fits into the landscape. A less sympathetic building, at nearly 100m long, would have dominated both The Savill Garden and the immediate area to their detriment. By using local materials and a low-profile, undulating roofline, Glenn Howells has managed to insert The Savill Building into its environment in a skilled and sensitive way. More pragmatically, The Savill Building also provides a wonderful sense of arrival, so important in guiding and welcoming visitors to The Royal Landscape.”
The Savill Building’s bespoke gridshell roof, the largest roof of its type in the UK, is constructed from larch and clad with green oak from Windsor Great Park’s sustainable managed woodland. In total, just over 20 kilometres of timber were used, roughly the equivalent of the distance between Windsor Castle and Hampton Court Palace, and it weighs 30 tonnes. The roof takes a distinctive undulating form that resembles the curve of a leaf. The generous cathedral-like interior central space shelters under the apparently self-supporting, green wood roof, drawing the visitor’s eye upwards and towards the gardens.
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