A living wetland theatre in the UK — LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE AOTEAROA

The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in the United Kingdom has a Living Wetland Theatre courtesy of BD Landscape Architects.

Located in Slimbridge, Gloucestershire, the open-air venue with amphitheatre seating allows for live interactive presentations and bird flight demonstrations on stage.

The new Living Wetland Theatre courtesy of BD Landscape Architects.

A 360-seat theatre is sheltered from the elements, high enough for birds to fly from the back of its tiered seating to the stage. Reclaimed groynes form its backdrop, and runoff from its roof feeds into the aviary wetland exhibit, resulting in sustainable drainage.

An adjacent aviary features a new lagoon fed from a new stream connected to the wider wetland, providing a habitat for wetland bird species with trees, wildflowers, reeds and aquatic planting, providing natural places to perch and shelter.

The aviary is an immersive environment with all the sights and sounds of a typical UK wetland. Featuring bearded seedlings and diving ducks in an underwater duck tank, visitors also learn about butterflies, dragonflies and pond creatures that rely on wetlands to survive.

Plantings show biodiversity from UK wetlands species matrices, and the exhibit is home to a variety of bird species year-round.

Even and stable routes are provided as part of the development’s accessibility strategy, allowing movement through the sloping landscape with a path that winds from the entrance to the event space and aviary. Bridges are strategically located to provide routes across the stream.

“This exciting project highlights the valuable habitat that wetlands provide for the diverse flora and fauna that is in danger of being lost,” say B|D landscape architects. It is, “accessible to all for an enriched educational and immersive sensory experience from visual interest through to the aviary, to talks and demonstrations at the outdoor theatre that bring the experience to life.”