Agricultural centre's vision to be the 'focus of the countryside'

Local firm Houseman & Falshaw has been appointed as building contractors for the development, which will see the creation of a prestigious suite of offices, a café and shop. The Yorkshire Agricultural Society is the first agricultural society in the UK to develop such an initiative.

The shop will promote locally sourced food as a priority, providing an extra outlet for local farmers and producers as well as additional choice of good quality local fare for consumers.

The café design will enable cookery demonstrations and food launches to be staged. All profits made will be ploughed back into supporting agriculture in the region.

Construction work is anticipated to take about 11 months, and once the project is completed, the society’s office staff will re-locate to the new building along with other not-for-profit rural organisations.

Heather Parry, the society’s deputy chief executive, said over the last decade the society had spent more than £12m upgrading the 250-acre site.

“Our vision is to be the focus for farming and the countryside in this region year round, whether that is providing a venue for the launch of a new Yorkshire cheese, giving local producers a platform for their produce, hosting cookery demonstrations, educating customers on how the food they eat is produced or supporting rural businesses by providing office accommodation.”

The building will be constructed from a timber frame, rainwater will be harvested and a ground source heat pump will heat the building, while solar thermal roof panels will provide a percentage of the hot water. The farm shop and café will have a ‘green’ sedum roof and a dry stone outer wall. Sheep’s wool will be used as insulation in the offices.