The Savill Building

The Crown Estate always intended to commission a modern building and one that incorporated traditional craftsmanship and materials, sympathetic with the adjoining parkland.

The winning design by Glenn Howells Architects uses a gridshell construction, a landmark feat of contemporary engineering, inspired by the strength and beauty of a seashell. Using sustainable timber from the Crown Estate forests – larch and oak for the roof and floor – the building was constructed as a single cell space oversailed with a gridshell roof. From inside the vast cathedral-like central space, the visitor can see the awesome, apparently self-supporting, green-wood roof, drawing the eye upwards and out towards the gardens through a glazed wall.