Center Parcs Woburn | Christopher Radcliffe

Center Parcs holiday villages provide unique family short breaks in forest settings in the UK combined with a variety of challenging outdoor activities and sports facilities. Each village also offers an extensive range of climatically controlled indoor sports, leisure and aquatic activities, plus access to numerous restaurants, bars, retail outlets and, a sumptuous Aqua sana Spa facility.
Each village has high quality accommodation provided in fully equipped apartments, lodges and more recently, superbly appointed tree houses.
As a result, Center Parcs is the UK’s favourite short break destination with an enviable annual occupancy rate of over 95%.
There are currently 4 Center Parcs locations in the UK, each set within 400 beautifully forested acres with lakes, streams and undulating landscapes.
Each location however, is much more than an activity based family friendly rural escape; each location is also a workplace.
For the people who run and maintain the ʻshort break close to natureʼ concept, these forest settings have to be designed to functionally operate 365 days of the year, come rain or shine.
The designs and specifications of furniture, fittings, equipment, mechanical, electrical / technological installations and all building materials, not only have to be fit for purpose and satisfy the demands of todayʼs sophisticated holiday makers; and all Center Parcs personnel, but also need to reflect and reinforce the corporate brand, throughout the organisation.
maber Architects and maber iD have worked closely with Center Parcs for 6 years, at 3 of their 4 UK sites; at Elveden Forest in Suffolk, Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire and Whinfell Forest in Cumbria. We are now nearing completion with them on their latest and 5th site near Woburn, Warren Wood in Bedfordshire.
At each of the sites, we have been involved in devising improved short term holiday break experiences for all guests by creating the most appropriate environments and ambiences possible and, because the sites operate 365 days a year, appropriate measures have to be put in place to negate unwelcome visitor experiences.
We collaborate with the Center Parcs teams on all aspects of the design process. We think about the interconnected, interrelated, interior and exterior spaces alongside the value added components that can be incorporated into the environments that will enhance, enrich, augment and amplify the unique experiences of being at Center Parcs This means that, the combination of retailing, food & beverage and leisure environments are presented in an holistic way, right across all 5 sites.
We achieve this by being:
Customer centric in everything to ensure accessibility, safety and security for everybody because, the value of a well managed visitor experience is remembered long after the cost has been forgotten.
Creative in devising authentic experiences that entertain, educate, inspire, inform and genuinely delight.
Mindful that the Center Parcs brand can be reinforced through association with other recognised brands, but not allowing those recognised brands to dominate.
Careful when devising way-finding/ signage solutions, which means always ensuring that safe and secure usage of facilities and services is a priority for everybody.
Considerate of each element in the context of the whole, with thorough and thoughtful design solutions that deliver.
To facilitate this we have worked with Center Parcs on a Design Code for the 5 villages that sets out a route map for achieving a consistent, memorable and working environment for everybody.
The Design Code includes a clear statement on the Center Parcs brand and their ethos. Visual guidance is provided by the inclusion of architectural plans and elevations, three-dimensional perspectives, precedent images and specifications.
The aim is to provide clarity regarding a visual code by the use of appropriate and agreed building materials, textures, colours, furniture, fittings and equipment.

The Center Parcs Woburn experience opened to the public in the Spring of 2014.