Leybourne Lakes Country Park.

Completed in the late summer of 2022, we delivered a new café next to the lake at Leybourne Lakes Country Park, which is operated by TMactive. The £890k investment comprised of an eco café building, decking for outdoor seating overlooking the lake, new toilet facilities and a watersports reception and changing area.

The project was developed in an area of natural landscape and as such biodiversity and ecological assessments were extremely important to ensure that all our partners worked within the tightly restricted parameters.

In the first 9 months since opening there were over 60,000 visitors.

The building orientation and form maximises free solar gain in winter from the low level sun to reduce winter heating loads.

In the summer months, the deep roof overhang and covered deck provides solar shading to the building, negating the need for mechanical cooling.

The shallow depth of the building combined with windows and doors along the long elevation allows natural ventilation throughout the main seating area without the need for mechanical plant.

The simple design and use of durable materials minimises building fabric maintenance and maximises the building’s lifespan. There was also consideration of flood-resilient design and materials as the area is within a flood risk zone.

Redistribution of soil and spoil across the site contributed to landscaping improvements and minimised waste.

Sustainable drainage design strategy minimises run off into adjacent watercourses leading to flooding. Rainwater is captured and returned to the lake in a controlled manner.

Existing trees were protected and retained, combined with additional native planting and landscaping.

Careful design and minimal external lighting reduces light pollution and interference with resident protected species such as bats. 

A roof photovoltaic array linked to state of the art Tesla batteries captures and stores free solar electricity.

A water source heat pump, with collectors in the adjacent lake, combined with an underfloor piped heating system throughout provides a low carbon space and water heating solution. On site bio waste water management system filters and treats waste before returning it back into the water system.

Sustainable & Ethical Product Choices

Coffee brand: Grumpy Mule 

Tea brand: Clipper

The world’s largest Fairtrade tea brand. Their teabag, strings and tags are unbleached, the teabags are sealed with plant based bio materials and so can be composted, and all of the packaging is recyclable.