Eden Community Centre

Carrickfergus Council

Client: Carrickfergus Council

Completion: September 2014

Value: £5m

Project Summary

Eden Community Centre has been designed to deliver a varied and complex number of activities for a wide variety of local stakeholders. The building forms a visual beacon within its surroundings with the multi-use hall at the heart of the plan articulated as a glazed lantern reflecting the sunlight in the day and lighting up at night. Located adjacent to the existing Eden playing fields the design incorporated the existing changing room facilities as well as providing additional changing facilities for the sports hall users. Included within the 1200sq.m building are facilities for the local playgroup comprising of nursery, teaching spaces, toilets, and storage areas. The entrance to the scheme contains reception and café facilities ensuring the facility becomes an integral part of the Eden community life. Elsewhere in the plan office and meeting room provision is provided? The building also caters for the local Allotment Society and includes for an integrated propagation unit.

The project was won through an open design competition with detailed proposals presented to the council and presentations given to multiple stakeholders to ensure full project buy-in.

Benefits

Eden Community Centre demonstrates how a thoughtful and cost-effective intervention can transform an under-utilised sports pavilion and transform it into a new Community Centre which has become the heart of local social and sports events. Key features include:

  • A bespoke structural solution was delivered for the design to ensure the maximum value was gained from the reuse of an existing structure whilst providing a lightweight steel-frame for the main hall space
  • Rainwater harvesting provides grey water not only to the building but also to the adjacent allotments
  • The building is future proofed for solar panels and the gas plant room allows integration of biomass boilers at a later date

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