The Whole Home display is due to be completely refurbished this year. This sketch shows the planned modifications to the exterior. On the inside, we plan to create a contemporary interior complete with eco-friendly domestic appliances and household products to explore ways of lessening your home's environmental impact. There will be a television showing short films about sustainable living; an organic garden with composting and rainwater harvesting facilities; and a garage housing sustainable forms of domestic transport from an electric car to a pogo stick!

This is the first concept drawing of the planned Waste and Recycling area using the themes 'Reduce, Re-use, Recycle'.

The 'Reduce' section will consider the ecological impact of the goods we buy - from fizzy drinks to electrical items - with an interactive supermarket checkout which registers the eco-footprint of each item scanned. In considering waste management practices, such as landfill and incineration, we aim to demonstrate the importance of reducing the amount of waste we generate. Many of the new displays will take the form of interactive sculpture, such as the 'happiness is just around the corner' treadmill and 'retail therapy' couch. They question what is to be gained from a consumerist lifestyle.

The 'Reuse' displays will focus on the ways we can use objects and materials again, without changing their physical make-up.

'Recycle', incorporating a 'Can you guess what it was?' game, will look at raw materials and examine how we can give our waste a new lease of life by making it into something new. Composting, another important aspect of recycling, will also be explored. Kids will be able to glide through the composting process on our brand-new worm slide.

When we were offered a lot of old whiskey barrels, we decided to change the design. True to the recycling principles exhibited inside the shelter, we are now planning to roof it using shingles made from whiskey barrel slats. They will be arranged according to the Golden Ratio.

On the right of both plans the bottle dome can be seen. It will be built out of 2,500 wine bottles.

This is an artist's impression of the planned Energy and Power area. Interactive displays will examine the principles which underpin renewable energy: What is electricity and how it is made? How can we tap into the water cycle to generate power? How can we make best use of the sun and wind energy? And when we have harnessed this energy, how can we store it so that we can use it later?

The Wates House is the site of the Whole Home display. When it was built, it was the best insulated building in the UK, with 450mm of cavity wall insulation. Inside, the original exhibits included information boards, videos on climate change and an interactive miniature house showing energy use in the home. When it has been refurbished, there will be a conservatory on this side, while we plan to build a carport for an electric car on the other side of the building.

There had been a display of wind energy at CAT for many years, although the Pavilion as seen above opened in spring 1991. It was built as part of the ‘Gear Change’ project, which included the cliff railway. This will be replaced with the new Power and Energy displays.

These are some of the foundations for the new Energy and Power displays. As CAT was built on the site of an old slate quarry, digging foundations in solid slate rubble can be difficult. These wooden boxes will eventually be filled with concrete. The concrete pads will then be attached to the vertical posts.

The new building to house the Rocket composting machine. The long metal tank will deal with all the vegetable waste from the kitchens and the restaurant - inside the tank is a screw which turns the vegetable matter slightly every day. After two weeks in the well-insulated chamber, the waste will come out the other end as nutrient-rich soil for growing vegetables.

When vegetable scraps decompose without oxygen in a landfill site, they produce powerfull greenhouse gases such as methane. By turning this waste into compost, we are reducing our impact on the environment.

Here the first posts are being connected to the concrete pads with galvanised mild steel shoes. The posts are made of locally grown sustainable douglas fir.

The first cross braces were laid for the ramp on the power and energy displays. The walkway will be laid across these beams.