Butterfly World: Keops Supplies Cabins for World Class Visitor Attraction
After seven years of searching, founder Clive Farrell finally found the perfect site for his £27 million world class visitor attraction, Butterfly World which aims to be the biggest and most exciting butterfly experience in the world. Backed by patrons Sir David Attenborough, Professor David Bellamy, Alan Titchmarsh and actress Emilia Fox, Butterfly World aims to educate, raise awareness, preserve the natural environment and fund research into the world of butterflies and moths.
Designed to form a butterfly’s head when viewed from the air, the site will feature a spectacular transparent bio-dome which will house the biggest butterfly walk-through exhibition in the world with over 10,000 tropical butterflies at any one time – think Eden Project but with wings! With phase II of the project well underway, Keops were delighted to be involved in designing, providing and building a number of log cabin buildings for the site at Chiswell Green near St Albans.
Three cabins were supplied for the project:
The Nectar House Cafe
The cafe was designed and built to full building regulations standard. Measuring 10 metres by 21 metres, it has a 1.5m canopy across the 10m gable. The walls are made up of a 56mm outer log wall with a 90mm insulated cavity and a 28mm inner log wall. This is fixed with our special sliding bracketry method to allow natural swelling and contraction movements of the logs. The premium grade doors and tilt and turn windows are fitted with double glazing and 4 Velux roof windows allow plenty of natural light into the Cafe. Roof and floor insulation are to building regulations standard. Go along to the Nectar House Cafe where you can enjoy the wonderful log cabin atmosphere and sample excellent coffee, hot & cold food and delicious cakes (wonder if they sell butterfly cakes?)
The Insect Study Centre
The Insect Study Centre is used to encourage schools to bring children to learn about the lifecycle of butterflies and insects. The study measures 6m x 14 metres with a 1.5m canopy across the 6m gable. Walls are single log 56mm and roof and floor insulation are to our comfort grade standard. The doors and windows are all double glazed and the cabin provides a lovely working environment for all.
The Butterfly World Shop
The Butterfly World Shop measures 6 by 10 metres and is built in 56mm log thickness. It features a 1 metre stable type roof overhang along the 10m side. We fitted our premium grade doors and standard windows with double glazing upgrade and included floor insulation and roof insulation. The log cabin building is the perfect solution for its use as a gift shop. There are rare and unusual plants for sale along with plenty of plant and garden advice. Inside is packed full of fun ideas for children to spend their pocket money on and features ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ gifts and t-shirts.
Phase II of the project will be completed by May/June 2011 when visitors to Butterfly World will be able to experience reproduced Mayan ruins, tropical rainforests and waterfalls, a mysterious ‘underworld’ of caverns inhabited by colonies of spiders and scorpions as well as remnants of Maya treasures and artefacts, and hundreds of hummingbirds along with the 10,000 tropical butterflies.
