The CORE is an environmentally sustainable eco-centre set at the base of a 30-acre Community Orchard and Nature Reserve. Designed with an inspiring circular form, the building features a central open-use space filled with natural light from a large rooflight, alongside a generous, partially covered veranda with views across the orchard.

The CORE has been created to connect people with nature through learning, education, and exploration. It offers environmental education, practical skills, and nature-based training for individuals, local groups, and schools. It also serves as a welcoming venue for community events and gatherings throughout the year, supporting mental health and wellbeing while helping to reduce isolation and loneliness.

Sustainability has been central to the construction. Stop Digging Cornwall installed steel ground screw foundations in place of traditional concrete, reducing carbon emissions by approximately 60%. Post & Beam constructed the entirety of the green timber frame using locally sourced Douglas fir from sustainably managed forests. While Norsk created the rest of the timber frame and the remainder of the Structure for the Building Project.

Norsk Carpentry delivered the principal construction works, including the fabrication and erection of the primary timber frame with a complex solid wood floor structure. The building envelope was formed using Bitrok, a high-performance blown cavity recycled insulation was used to enhance thermal efficiency and minimise cold bridging, and finished externally with locally sourced larch cladding, reinforcing the building’s sustainable credentials and connection to place.