Education Centre to open in Bute Park

Bute Park Education Centre will open its hand-carved door to the public on Thursday 27 October

One of the wood carvers stands next to the Education Centre's oak entrance

Cardiff Council hopes the centre, which is the latest phase of the £5.6 million Bute Park Restoration Project, will become an education hub for visitors to discover more about the park’s horticulture and heritage.

The council has been criticised for both the scale and cost of the building work, with one campaigner claiming the work amounted to a “concreting over” of a much-loved green space.

However, council leader Rodney Berman maintained at the official opening last Friday that the building would sit sympathetically within its environment.

Cardiff-born architect Michael Davies said, “Every time we design something and build something we’re leaving it behind; this building will become part of the history of the park.”

Key Facts:

Cardiff Council received a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £3.1 million to help pay for the Bute Park Restoration Project.

The education centre is accessed through a carved oak door, with the designers taking inspiration from the idea of a “secret garden”. Architect Michael Davies said, “It’s not often an architect wants to hide his building, but we honestly felt it would be better if we hid this building behind a wall.” The wall itself is constructed using recycled bricks from previous developments.

Cardiff’s horticultural team will use the facility to train future employees of the Parks Service. Senior supervisor Will Power said, “We strive to be the best there is, as far as parks and gardens go, in the whole of the country, and this should help us in getting the theoretical stuff across to our gardeners.”

Cardiff blogger and environmental activist Green Granny has said that the building is “misappropriating Restoration Grant funding on a grand scale”.

More information about the public opening events can be found here.