Apr 3 2008
Park Farm, the HQ for Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and his River Cottage team, is currently undergoing something of a revamp.
Park Farm
Located on the Dorset/Devon borders, Park Farm is set within 65 acres of organic farmland. The farm buildings including farmhouse and barn have been developed and expanded to create an on-site cookery school, events and educational base and dinner venue; promoting food provenance, integrity and locality.
The ecological ethos that underpins River Cottage is being continued throughout the build, managed and run by London-based architect and academic Stewart Dodd.
Everything from the FSC wood to the furniture and paint must comply to strict environmentally friendly criteria. This includes using reclaimed timber, wind turbines, sheep’s wool and wood fibre insulation, and installing a biomass boiler for heating.
The architects have also incorporated an Envireau rainwater harvesting system, manufactured by Titan Pollution Control, for grey water capture and use.
The Envireau system they have chosen uses a tank with a working capacity of 15,000 litres. It collects rainwater from the roof, filters out leaves and debris and stores it in a holding tank. Water is then drawn off via a silent-running pump, passing through a series of filters, for use in a variety of non-potable applications; in this instance for flushing toilets and watering the garden around the cottage.
Using the most modern technology, the system has been designed to be easy to install, maintain and above all, to use.
Stewart Dodd comments: “We chose Envireau because the team behind it is highly professional with a very good reputation for customer support, and we were not disappointed. We were very happy with the service we received from them; you could call them at any time and get the advice you needed.
“The Envireau is now in place and is working perfectly: we’d definitely use them again.”