A MAJOR restoration project is under way in a Hampshire country park.

The £150,000 project will see the roof of the unique Grade II listed Empire Building in the Royal Victoria Country Park at Netley completely replaced after it started leaking.

Built in 1940, it is constructed entirely of wood, with a roof clad in Western Red Cedar shingles from Canada.

It was originally built following a donation from the Young Men's Christian Association to provide a recreational facility for troops recuperating at the Royal Victoria Hospital - the world's largest dedicated military hospital of which only the chapel now remains.

The work itself will be done by specialist craftsmen to replicate the original finish, and will also include replacing the cedar wood cladding inside the building, and the windows.

The replacement Red Cedar shingles, which have been specially shipped over from Canada, contain a natural fungicide which helps protect them and weathering turns them an attractive silvery grey giving them a natural look within the built environment.

The shingles come from sustainably grown trees and use parts of the timber that cannot be used for other purposes.

Apart from thatch, they are the only roofing material that comes from a renewable resource.

The wooden roof is also just one tenth the weight of other materials and has high insulation values.