Water`s Edge Visitor Centre. Humber Bridge. UK Editorial Photo

Waters` Edge Visitor Centre is set in 86 acres of country park against the stunning backdrop of the Humber Bridge. Between the early 19th century and the middle of the 20th century, the site on which Waters’ Edge stands was quarried for brick and tile clay.In 1955 the last brick works were demolished. Other industries associated with the area and the site before 1874 include rope making, malt kilns and fertiliser production. By the 1950s a large production factory was well established on the site, making fertilisers from animal waste. The process had advanced and the factory was a well-established chemical plant with facilities to make acids. Unfortunately these fertiliser materials and the associated chemicals contaminated the site. North Lincolnshire Council inherited the site from Glanford Borough Council in 1996 and work soon began to convert the site to a country park.The old contaminated soil was stripped back, layer by layer.Thousands of reeds were hand planted along the banks of the ponds and an area of native woodland was created. The first part of the country park opened to the public in 2003.A design competition was launched to develop an innovative, sustainable green building on the site to act as a centre for visitors to the park and also to house local businesses. The winning design was from Gerard Bareham Architects of Leeds and was opened three years later in 2006.