Hicks Lodge, a new cycle centre designed by Pick Everard in the heart of The National Forest opens for business on Wednesday 1 June at 11 am. This £1.5 million project features a stunning glass and timber visitor centre that uses the latest environmentally-friendly technology. Constructed from sustainable timber, it is heated by a wood chip boiler, uses solar water heating and recycles rainwater.

A multidisciplinary Pick Everard team provided architectural design, structural engineering, mechanical and electrical engineering, quantity surveying, BREEAM and CDM consultancy.

The National Forest Company and the Forestry Commission have created eight miles of new, off-road cycling trails, a visitor centre and café, cycle hire centre, bike shop, and repair workshop. Opening in the half-term school holidays, there will be no shortage of young cyclists eager to try out the twists and turns of the different grades of trail and hone their cycling skills.

Pick Everard architect Jerry Tseng comments: "We're delighted to have been involved in designing Hicks Lodge, a facility that's in keeping with its rural surroundings and fully meets the brief in terms of sustainability".

Alan Leather, project co-ordinator on behalf of the National Forest Company, said: 'The centre is going to be a great way to introduce families and beginners to easy, fun cycling in a beautiful environment. Youngsters will be able to learn to ride, practise their skills or even get started on racing, while families can enjoy the surfaced trails and explore the attractive woodlands.'

Alan Dowell, area forester for the Forestry Commission added: 'This exciting new centre, designed especially for families, offers something unique and different from our other sites in the Midlands. The extensive traffic free trails and high quality facilities look set to be a big hit with a wide range of visitors to The National Forest.'

Funded by the 6Cs Strategic Green Infrastructure Growth Fund and the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership, the cycle centre will be run by Purple Mountain, which manages cycle centres in North Yorkshire and Northumberland.

Also designed by Pick Everard, the first youth hostel built in The National Forest won an East Midlands Regional Sustainability Award in 2008 for exemplary design and best practice in modern timber construction technology and sustainable energy consumption.

Pick Everard is currently working on a number of leisure projects nationally including providing procurement support to Sport England's Places People Play, a £135m, a mass participation initiative that aims to inspire a new generation into sport. By transforming a wide range of sports venues through National Lottery funding, the benefits of London 2012 will be brought to thousands of participants across the country.