With tourists expecting higher levels of service, information and retail opportunities, visitor centres have become a vital component in providing access to heritage sites, historic buildings, landscapes of natural beauty and monuments. As a consequence, numerous architecturally renowned centres have been designed and built in recent years. It is perhaps no surprise that so many of these centres have been featured in architectural awards, as they not only offer a 'jewel' of a project to architects, being small in scale but high in profile, but the buildings must also respond sympathetically to a rich physical and cultural context.
