MA Architecture Students Design New Nature Hide for Tolworth

Masters Architecture students from Unit 5 at Kingston University, led by Jim Reed and Takeshi Hayatsu, have teamed up with conservation group Citizen Zoo and The Community Brain to design and build an animal watching hide for communities in Tolworth to observe local wildlife.

The project began back in October 2019, when the students were asked to explore the Tolworth Moated Manor site which lies along the A240 in the south of the borough.

Students began by recording, cataloguing and mapping out the abundance of species on the site.

A design competition shortly followed, with each student asked to make a model of their proposed hide.

After much debate, it was decided that the best ideas should be combined to form the final nature hide design.

The hide is formed of two circular rooms, constructed from a timber structure with straw bale infill.

Cladding planks were decorated by schoolchildren from Our Lady Immaculate Primary School, using paint made from Tolworth clay.

Although the current Covid-19 situation has unfortunately delayed the build for now, we look forward to constructing the hide on site in the future.

A massive thank you all of the MArch unit 5 students and a special thanks to James Jones and Sons, IDVerde Community Investment Fund, Kingston University Alumni and Lewis Trevellyan for their support.