The Pines Calyx™ is a conference and events venue conceived of as a carbon neutral catalyst for rural and urban sustainable development and for grass roots responses to climate change.

This web site will update with more details of The Pines Calyx as they are available. In the mean time, if you would like more details of the rationale behind the building techniques, please get our PDF article, originally printed in “Building for a Future” magazine, by supplying your email address here. You will be directed to our page where you can download the PDF to your computer, so you can read the details away from the Internet. Alternatively, you can see some of our latest photos below. Click on any photo to see a larger version held on external site, Flickr.com. For more, please go to the photo links page.

The building, in a stunning parkland location nestled in the White Cliffs of Dover, is owned by The Bay Trust, a local environmental charitable trust. The building's designers, Helionix Designs led an international collaborative team in delivering an award winning commercial building which demonstrates a successful fusion of historic construction techniques with 21st century technologies, design and analysis.

The key features of the building include its earth-sheltered and curved design with all the main walls being constructed in rammed chalk.  One of the most stunning features is the use of 'timbrel-vaulting' ('Catalan vaulting'), a centuries' old method of construction successfully revived on this project. The technique delivers optimum sustainability and economics in creating the building's shallow domes (no concrete, no formwork and swift to construct).

Other features include natural ventilation systems, 'virtual daylight' lighting, fully sustainable water management systems (including reedbeds naturally treating waste water), solar thermal hot water and energy management tailored to an ongoing programme for fully carbon neutral, renewable supply. The building, built to "passiv-haus" standards, delivers savings of up to c.80% in embodied and operational energy (when compared to current UK best practice). Unique for an earth sheltered building is the minimal use of concrete with a very high percentage of the building being constructed from local (mostly 'waste') materials. The outcome of the construction of the building has been an overall enhancement in on site biodiversity.

See The Pines Calyx website for information on the building as a venue. A short video of the project and other information is available to view on our video page.