White Design’s building praised for its sustainable features including a biomass boiler powered by woodchips from the local forest

The Dalby Forest Visitor Centre in North Yorkshire has won the prime minister’s Better Public Building Award 2007.

Designed by Bristol practice White Design, the centre was commissioned by the Forestry Commission.

It was praised by judges for its commitment to sustainability.

The building contains a biomass boiler powered by woodchips from the local forest, and draws much of its power from solar panels and wind turbines. It is clad in larch, and the roof is made of recycled tyres and inner tubes.

Even the building’s reception desk is made of recycled mobile phones, Wellington boots and yoghurt pots.

John Sorrell, CABE chair, said: “Dalby Forest Visitor Centre is everything that we should expect from a new public building. It shows how great design lies at the heart of our response to climate change.”

The award, presented yearly since 2001, recognises new public sector buildings and spaces that create a better local environment for their communities.

Previous winners include BDP’s Bournemouth Library (2003), the City of London Academy, designed by Studio E Architects (2006), and Herzog and de Meuron’s Tate Modern (2001).

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