The Project
Joe Henson opened Cotswold Farm Park in 1971, to help protect and conserve some of the country’s rarest breeds of farm animal. Today Cotswold Farm Park welcomes over 150,000 visitors and is dedicated to protecting some of the rarest and most endangered breeds of farm animal including Irish Moiled Cattle, Bagot Goats and Gloucestershire Old Spot Pigs. The farm is now operated by Joe’s son Adam along with his business partner Duncan Andrews.
The design
The new building has been dubbed ‘The Ox Shed’, in honour of its predecessor, and includes a 130-seat restaurant with a commercial kitchen, a bar, an extensive retail area, and new toilets with baby changing facilities.
Tyack Architects’ design incorporates traditional facing materials such as oak featheredge boarding, a corrugated tin roof and Cotswold stone. However, the project team needed a structural solution which would allow all building work to be completed over a five-month period, in time for the busy spring season. Additionally, the owners were keen for the new facility to be as energy efficient as possible, both to reduce carbon emissions and overall running costs. To achieve this, the TEK Building System was designed and installed by Kingspan TEK Delivery Partner, Glosford SIPs , forming the structural shell of the building.
The TEK Building System is comprised of Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) which feature a high performance, rigid insulation core sandwiched between two layers of OSB/3. The 142 mm panels chosen for the Ox Shed can achieve U-values of 0.20 W/m2K or better without the need for additional insulation. In addition, their unique jointing system and OSB/3 facing ensured a highly airtight building with excellent insulation continuity, limiting repeating thermal bridges.
Glosford SIPs worked with the project team to develop the initial plans into the design for the TEK Building System. Once these were agreed, the panels were precision cut to the dimensions required, including openings for all the windows and doors. The pre-cut panels were then delivered to site to a carefully coordinated schedule.
The lightweight design, simple jointing and offsite construction of the TEK Building System allowed the shell to be constructed in just 2 weeks without the need for significant onsite adjustments, reducing waste. Once a breather membrane was applied to the face of the panels, the shell could be made weathertight. This allowed internal fit out work to commence whilst the oak cladding was being applied, supporting a much faster build programme than what would have been possible with a masonry construction.
The new visitor centre has earned rave reviews. Its thermally efficient envelope ensures guests are kept cosy and warm, whilst details such as the glulam rafters help to tie the building within its traditional setting. Large panoramic patio doors at one end of the restaurant help to open the building out during the summer and provide plenty of winter sun in the cooler months.
Reviewed April 2026
