New Forest Planning Permission Secured
Working closely with the Lantern team, Footprint Architects have designed a building that celebrates creativity, community, and connection with nature, reflecting the charity’s values of dignity, belonging, and shared purpose.
A Place for Creativity and Connection
The new centre will provide a series of flexible art studios, workshop spaces, and communal areas to support the charity’s craft and education programmes including pottery, weaving, art, and seasonal crafts. At its heart, the design promotes social sustainability, offering inclusive and adaptable spaces that nurture creativity, self-expression, and social interaction.
A shared central room will open to the surrounding woodland through large glazed doors, creating a seamless transition between inside and out. This will form the social heart of the building, a place for gathering, reflection, and community events.
Key Sustainable Design Features
At Footprint Architects, we recognise that true sustainability considers not only the environmental but also the social and human aspects of design. The Creative Arts Centre has been designed with Passivhaus principles and biophilic design at its core, achieving low operational energy while enhancing health and wellbeing.
- South-facing façade with deep roof overhangs for passive solar shading
- North-facing roof glazing for daylighting and natural ventilation
- Timber frame construction using locally sourced materials and woodfibre insulation
- Non-toxic, formaldehyde-free finishes to promote indoor air quality
- Air source heat pump and solar PV array to achieve near net-zero operational energy
- Green roof and biodiversity strategy, enhancing ecological value within the Green Belt
- Flexible layout designed for long-term adaptability and reuse
Respecting the Land, Reflecting the Community
Nestled within the Southeast Dorset Green Belt, the centre’s design is inspired by the surrounding woodland canopy. The building sits gently above low-lying wetland, connected by a walkway that invites visitors to wander through the landscape.
The green roof softens the building’s form, blending it seamlessly into the treeline and minimising its visual impact on the greenbelt setting. Rooflights bring soft northern light into the studios, while natural ventilation reduces reliance on mechanical systems.
Set within a long-established intentional community, the new centre will serve as a vital space for creativity, connection, and care, supporting adults with learning disabilities in a setting that values inclusion, independence, and belonging.
Meaningful Collective Support
The Lantern Community’s ethos to provide meaningful work, supportive living, and opportunities for lifelong learning, has underpinned every design decision.
New creative workshops support personal development, while a shared communal hub promotes inclusive learning and collective experience.
The landscape design draws directly from the Lantern Community’s spiral logo, a symbol of layered support surrounding a central safe space.
This concept informs the spatial layout of the outdoor gathering areas, which are shaped to promote reflection, connection, and a strong sense of belonging, honouring the values at the heart of this intentional community.
Lasting Value
This project demonstrates how architecture can encourage wellbeing and connection while restoring the natural environment, as well as celebrating New Forest planning success. The Creative Arts Centre will enrich the lives of those who use it and leaving a lasting legacy for the Lantern Community.
