A revised planning application for the Slade Gardens Community Hub in Stockwell has been granted permission by the London Borough of Lambeth. This application contains a new simplified scheme but still is conceived as a highly flexible community space that contains the core activities of the Adventure Playground, the One O’clock Club as well as a public café.
Due to the fact that Slade Gardens Community Hub is both charitably run and funded, the Slade Gardens Community Play Association made the difficult decision to amend the previous consented design for the new hub in order to reduce costs and make the remaining fundraising more achievable.
MAX Architects rose to the challenge of re-designing the building with the same scope, space and facilities but on a more achievable budget. This was accomplished through the following amendments:
- The building no longer ramps out of and back into the ground plane
- The roofscape is no longer accessible and the simpler form allows for traditional construction methods
- The main flexible community space and the public-facing café are retained
- The footprint of the building is very similar to the consented scheme but the overall height is reduced
- The proposed materials are a mix of naturally-weathered copper cladding and timber which are both long-lasting and relatively maintenance-free
We are pleased that the new consented scheme still embodies the playful spirit of the previous consented scheme yet is more financially viable and achieves the ultimate goal of providing facilities for an inclusive range of community, cultural and social functions and acts as a catalyst for the wider improvements to Slade Gardens.
