Winning School To Go Wild At Rolls Royce

Rolls-Royce is committed to encouraging biodiversity and is a Gold Member of the Sussex Wildlife Trust. The competition, organised in partnership with the Trust, offers scope for children to develop their artistic and creative skills within the National Curriculum.

The design brief was to draw up plans for a garden to provide habitats for insect life such as butterflies, ladybirds and spiders as part of the food chain for the many varied wildlife species that are frequently seen at the Goodwood site.

The Rolls-Royce plant is situated within the grounds of the Goodwood Estate, at the foot of the South Downs area of outstanding natural beauty. Throughout the design and development of this facility, environmental considerations have been paramount.

For example, the buildings at the manufacturing plant feature a ‘living roof’ which is planted with a variety of sedum plants. It extends to eight acres and is believed to be the largest in the UK.

As well as acting as an ideal habitat for flora and fauna the roof also provides insulation in the winter and evaporative cooling in the summer, which cuts energy bills. A number of breeding pairs of skylarks were spotted nesting on the roof last summer.

A further biodiversity initiative was a custom-made owl box, erected in the 42 acre grounds last December. More boxes are planned to encourage the increase of barn owls, which are now a specially protected species in the UK.

Over 400,000 trees and shrubs have been planted in the grounds where the lake acts as a heat sink for the climate control systems in the head office buildings, resulting in savings over the cost of air conditioning.

Ian Robertson, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Chairman and Chief Executive said, “We are committed to encouraging biodiversity by integrating the facilities here into the beautiful surrounding landscape.

We look forward to welcoming the children from the winning school to Rolls-Royce to build their garden, which will contribute to our longer term efforts to help ensure local wildlife is preserved for future generations”.

Dr Tony Whitbread, Chief Executive of the Sussex Wildlife Trust, said, "It is one of the Trust's main objectives to educate children about wildlife and the need to take care of the environment. It is vital that the next generation of decision-makers realises the importance of our local natural habitats and the wildlife that depends on them. As such we applaud the efforts of companies like Rolls-Royce which are contributing so much towards that aim."

Credits: nikolaiski