A glulam bird hide has been built on Rainham Marshes in Thurrock by ModularUK.
The larch-clad building, built at the nature reserve for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), was fabricated off site at ModularUK’s Driffield factory and assembled in less than half the time of traditional construction methods.
Designed by HaysomWardMiller Architects, the 18x6m hide is on the site of an old shooting butt and provides 46 new viewing points to give far-reaching views over the marshes.
The off-site approach minimised the number of people and vehicle movements in the reserve. It also reduced the length of time working on the site, which is in the middle of the marsh some 1,200m from the entrance.
The site also contained listed military heritage structures (from when the marshes were used as a firing range), which had to be preserved during construction work.
Glulam beams were supplies by Fishergate-based ECC Timber Engineering Ltd, while larch cladding came from Hawthorn Timber (Hull).
