A derelict corner of a public park has recently been turned into a new community centre, with a modern building wrapping around a century old former park keeper’s lodge.

The new building, the Sands End Arts and Community Centre, designed by , is a replacement for a community centre building that was sold by the former council in 2010 to be turned into luxury flats. Ever since then, there’s been a call for a replacement to be provided, and it’s taken a combination of thrift and developer funds to finally deliver one.

It’s also been shortlisted for next month’s RIBA Stirling Prize.

Sitting in the corner of South Park, a short walk from Parsons Green, the new building takes its architectural design from the park’s former use, as a market garden growing fruit and veg for the City, so the community centre is inspired by the glasshouses that used to dominate the area.

Designed as a cluster of four large rooms around a central courtyard and reception, the design has been pared back to functionally minimal, with an emphasis on minimal use of decorative flourishes. That minimal design is partly to reduce costs, but also in large part to reduce the environmental impact of the construction of the building.

If things are needed, add them, but otherwise, why waste steel and wood on design flourishes that are not functional has been the mantra of the design.

Although the building is externally clad in brick — from the recycled brick manufacturer, StoneCycling — structurally it’s mainly a wooden building, making use of CLT timber, along with acoustic cladding in the ceiling to dampen down the echoes.

A cafe has opened, of course, but the wall between the cafe and one of the large open rooms can also slide away, opening up a much larger space for events, to bring in the money to keep the community centre running.

The overall effect is one of a simple but functional building that thanks to the use of copious amounts of wood internally and the elevated ceilings doesn’t feel like your typical community centre.

Sitting right next to the modern building though is something very old — the former park keepers lodge. It had been derelict for at least a couple of decades, and when they started work on cleaning it up, it took nearly four months just to dry out the building from the damp that had soaked into the walls.

What they’ve done is keep the building as a stand alone lodge rather than try to tie it into the new structures, but they’ve pared back the interior to plain brick, and removed part of the first floor to open up a new double-height space. It’s currently being used as a temporary art gallery space, but it’s another site they can hire out for events.

On my visit, the reception was full of prams as mums used one room, the cafe was seeing its first visitors of the day, and the dance studio had students learning moves.

As a local resource, the new building is arguably better located than the old site which was on a busy road. Here, the building overlooks the park, and sits at the nexus between wealthy Parson’s Green and a cluster of social housing blocks of flats.

The cost of the new building was met by local developer contributions, and, after some seed funding from the council, the community centre is run as an independent trust covering its own costs.

The six new buildings shortlisted for the 2022 RIBA Stirling Prize are

  • 100 Liverpool Street, London (Hopkins Architects)
  • Forth Valley College – Falkirk Campus, Scotland (Reiach and Hall Architects)
  • Hackney New Primary School and 333 Kingsland Road, London (Henley Halebrown)
  • Orchard Gardens, Elephant Park, London (Panter Hudspith Architects)
  • Sands End Arts and Community Centre, London (Mæ Architects)
  • The New Library, Magdalene College, Cambridge (Niall McLaughlin Architects)

The winner will be announced on Thursday 13th October 2022

NEWSLETTER

Be the first to know what's on in London, and the latest news published on ianVisits.

You can unsubscribe at any time from my weekly emails.

Tagged with: ,
SUPPORT THIS WEBSITE

This website has been running now for over a decade, and while advertising revenue contributes to funding the website, it doesn't cover the costs. That is why I have set up a facility with DonorBox where you can contribute to the costs of the website and time invested in writing and research for the news articles.

It's very similar to the way The Guardian and many smaller websites are now seeking to generate an income in the face of rising costs and declining advertising.

Whether it's a one-off donation or a regular giver, every additional support goes a long way to covering the running costs of this website, and keeping you regularly topped up doses of Londony news and facts.

If you like what you read on here, then please support the website here.

Thank you

2 comments
  1. DAN LEVY says:

    THERE IS A TYPO AT THE BEGINNING OF THE STORY, WHERE YOU REFER TO PALMERS GREEN-I THINK IT SHOULD BE PARSONS GREEN.

    • John Bowmer says:

      This reminds me of Stirling and Gowan’s Dining and Assembly Hall at Brunswick Primary School, Camberwell (1961-1962). Is it just a coincidence that it’s been submitted for the Stirling prize?

Home >> News >> Architecture