New company to take 'green' lodges design idea nationwide

February 7, 2007 - North Yorkshire News

The flagship product of a Richmond-based environmental construction company has entered the next phase of its development with the formation of a holiday company to be known as Natural Retreats.

The environmentally friendly holiday lodges that have recently opened on the Aislabeck site to the west of Richmond will be managed by the new company, which will also work with members of the original Ecobuild team - the construction company that built the lodges - to develop a number of new sites across the UK

Simon Spence, formerly of Ecobuild UK, explained: "Ecobuild was established to develop a specific site here in Richmond, which has now been completed.

"We always hoped that the lodge design could become a blueprint for other developments and Natural Retreats provides us with an ideal opportunity to move the projects on to a larger scale.

"We are very proud of our lodges, which have already won two major building design awards for the way they combine green technology with luxury living. The formation of Natural Retreats is the next stage in the process to take this concept to a wider audience."

Natural Retreats is a group made up of private individuals with an interest in the green holiday market, including members of the Spence family who set up Ecobuild.

Ewan Kearney, operations director for Natural Retreats, said: "There has been a real upsurge of interest in sustainable tourism and we believe that these lodge-style eco holidays will be very popular."