Designing for heritage : contemporary visitor centres 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. This book examines the global phenomenon of this relatively new but increasingly popular building type