Peacehaven
East Sussex
Community Project
The House Project charity approached Shape Architecture to design their new building that would allow them to extend and improve their activities in the community.
The brief required two large halls in a two storey building with supporting kitchen, storage, WCs and lift.
Design to support the community
Given the age range of the users a simple easily accessible and light filled interior was essential. The site for this project was very challenging, being the rear gardens of the existing House Project building which itself had to remain active & trading throughout the construction process.
Neighbours ranged from small bungalows to an industrial building. The existing House Project building also had numerous windows looking out onto the garden which should not be compromised. In addition, the client also required a building that had low operation costs. As with most projects of this nature, the budget was tight and had to be spent carefully.
Summary
Community Project, Peacehaven
The success of this project is firstly in its planning permission, gained at the first time to locate a two storey community centre in a back garden site. Secondly the way in which out charity client was able to both expand and improve its services to the community.
A Guide to Designing and Delivering Community Projects
An essential aspect of our work in the community sector is that it should engage and excite the client body and the wider community. It should clearly do this by the creativity of the design but also by use of a variety of computer graphics to describe the design proposals. These should aid clear communication. A clearly developed brief is essential.
Examples of Community Projects
Common to all our projects in the community sector is the transformative effect each new building has on the work of the charity. The examples below provide good examples.
