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Bakethin Hide
Newcastle University School of Architecture, 2017
A wildlife hide at Bakethin Conservation area
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Students at Newcastle University's School of Architecture worked with Kielder Art & Architecture, Northumberland Wildlife Trust and Northumbrian Water to design and build a new wildlife hide for visitors interested in finding out more about Kielder's wildlife.
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Bakethin Hide is located on the shoreline of Kielder Water, but within Bakethin conservation area. Access is from the Bakethin Conservation Area main carpark near Kielder village.
Turn off the C200, where Bakethin is signed and turn right to the main carpark where the Welcome Point structure is located. Bakethin Hide is about a 750m walk along the Lakeside Way (south shore) from the carpark.
An alternative parking area for visitors not comfortable with travelling that distance is accessed on the other side of the old railway line. Return to the public road, turn left, and then immediately left again. Bakethin Hide is a 600m walk along the Lakeside Way from this location.
MArch students at Newcastle University School of Architecture were commissioned to develop ideas for a new wildlife hide at Bakethin Conservation Area. The brief was to replace an existing bird hide with a structure that provided for both traditional birdwatchers and family groups. It was also to expand its emphasis from purely birdwatching, to encompass a broader range of wildlife that exists within the forest.
The students worked through 2016 with Northumbrian Wildlife Trust, Northumbrian Water, and Kielder Water & Forest Park Development Trust to develop their brief, submitting a number of potential design options for consideration.
The winning design consisted of a timber construction featuring connected 'lake' and 'forest' pods, faced with charred larch cladding, capped with a growing moss roof and approached via accessible paths from the Lakeside Way.
Bakethin Hide opened to the public in June 2017.
Welcome Point, a structure designed to accompany the hide and provide information and shelter to visitors, is situated at the start of the track leading to the Hide itself.