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Gamlingay Eco Hub: Community's dream is realised

Submitted by Vera Hale

On  Friday, 23rd March, The Rt Hon Andrew Lansley MP, Secretary of State for Health and South Cambridgeshire's MP, officially opened the newly refurbished Gamlingay Eco Hub. The new community centre is one of the early projects to receive support from The Glass-House, and throughout its development has been a true community led project. It is also a truly sustainable building designed by civic Architects Ltd – sustainable on an environmental, social and economical level. 

First and foremost is the social aspect. It was a project devised, led and managed by the community. As all of those involved acknowledge, the key figure was Bridget Smith. She rallied around to get the whole community on board to realise the £2m refurbishment of the original community centre. 

Together with their architects (civic Architects led by Dan Jones) they established the right brief to help regenerate the building and give it a new lease of life. The new functions added to the centre are the council offices, library and extra multi-purpose spaces to enhance the potential of the building and to increase the use and opening hours of the centre. These features have made the centre a real asset for the surrounding community, but also make it a viable investment, using it to its full potential. 

The building has a new welcoming entrance that leads onto a library area and to the council offices on the mezzanine floor. From there the spaces flow into one another. With daylight entering most of the building, it leads you effortlessly from room to room. But all spaces can be separated to suit the requirements of the events. The original main hall is retained as it was cheaper to refurbish it than to build a new. At the rear, there is new square space with a beautiful timber roof and overall the whole building has a nice contemporary finish with great detailing. 

Great energy saving technology is also employed in the building which will save the community money in future maintenance costs. It is kitted out with a ground source heat pump, which generates the heat for the underfloor heating in the new extensions. Photovoltaic panels on the roof generate the electrics to run the pump and other electrics in the building, with the surplus sold back to the grid. There is a rainwater harvesting tank installed that supplies the toilet cisterns and a solar thermal to supply the changing rooms with warm showers. The whole building is super insulated and creates a high level of comfort for the interior. During the build only two skips left the site according to architect Andrew Siddalll. Re-using as many of the materials as possible and with good detailing, waste was minimal.

It was a long journey to get the project realised. The initial contractor went bust and they had to be very resourceful to get all the funding together. But through sheer tenacity and community collaboration, they created a fantastic community centre which they can be proud of.

Watch a video of the opening of the Eco Hub here.

Vera Hale is a co-founder of the Cave co-operative and is undertaking a collaborative PhD at Sheffield University with The Glass-House and bureau - design + research, investigating the merits of Community Led Design. 

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London debate, the final in our Sustainable Community Building series

Submitted by Jaina Patel

We recently finished our Sustainable Community: Refurbishment vs New Build debate series at The Abbey Centre in London on 15 March 2011. We were delighted with the panellists presentations and thought provoking discussion from the audience.

Throughout the series audiences have focussed on everything from capacity building to the political, social and economic implications of the Big Society and Localism Bill. There was clearly great concern over the expectations being placed on communities to provide services for local people and to take on greater responsibility for the community buildings that can host them. While there is a great emphasis on the importance and potential for partnership working, it is clear that finding strong and confident partners in the current climate is challenging. Particular concern was expressed over the role of local authorities. The decisions they make around the disposal of assets currently in or potentially for community use and their relationship with community partners will be a key factor. But many have argued that new relationships, new models and more creative approaches are crucial, and that we must have the courage to see opportunities in the changing landscape.

The Sustainable Community Building debate series raised a number of issues that bear further investigation.  We welcome your comments and questions on our blog, and invite you to continue to bring us your experiences, learning and recommendations.

More detailed outlines of the key themes from each debate are available on our website at www.theglasshouse.org.uk

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The Sustainable Community Building: Refurbishment vs New Build, Newcastle Debate

Submitted by Jaina Patel

The third debate in our lively  series took place in Newcastle on Tuesday 22 March at Northern Stage, we were fortunate to once again have a diverse and interesting panel of speakers who shared their thoughts and experiences on the subject.

Our panel of speakers were Christine Morrison, North East Coordinator, Community Matters, Tim Mosedale, Director, Mosedale Gillatt Architects, Tom Johnston, Trust Director, Glendale Gateway Trust and John Dawson, Treasurer and Trustee, Lemington Community Centre.

As with our previous debates in Edinburgh and Cardiff, the community representatives (John Dawson and Tom Johnston) provided frank and insightful accounts of their experiences when taking on the owenership of a refurbished and new build community building and talked about how trying to incorporate sustainable concepts were not as easy as they had anticipated. 

Tim Mosedale (architect) shed light on the various issues architects face when taking on the development of a community building. Its often seen as a 'them' and 'us' process and Tim was able to explore this area in more detail, explaining that this preconception is far from his way of working with community groups. 

Christine Morrison, Community Matters presented her views on the subject from a political perspective, exploring how the Coalition's Big Society agenda, Localism Bill and cuts to local budgets will have a direct impact on the future of the community building.

There is a dedicated page on the Glass-House Sustainable Community Building page where you can download the key themes from the event.

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Buildings by Design training course

Submitted by hannah gibbs

Last year as part of our series of Design Training for community groups we delivered two Buildings by Design courses in Cockermouth, Cumbria. To give you an idea of what happens at our courses here's our case study of one of them, including the three groups' stories:

To download a pdf of this case study click here.

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Cardiff debate - The Sustainable Community Building: Refurbishment vs New Build

Submitted by Jaina Patel

The second debate in our series took place at Chapter in Cardiff on Thursday 25 November 2010. Once again the panellists and audience members raised and discussed a range of issues relating to the sustainability of the community building in the contexts of new builds and refurbishments.

Our panel of speakers in Cardiff were David Tyler, Chief Executive of Community Matters, Alan Gillard, Principal, Gillard Associates Architecture and Design, Kelvin Jones, Chief Executive, Gorseinon Development Trust and Marco Gil-Cervantes, Chief Executive, ProMo-Cymru.

Marco and Kelvin provided honest and frank accounts of their own experiences of taking ownership of a community building and highlighted the challenges and opportunities that they encountered. They each showcased their journey and the effect their community buildings have had on the local people and neighbourhood. While their experience and the buildings themselves were quite different, Marco and Kelvin's stories demonstrated how important sustainability is not only for the local environment but also to reduce running costs. They were also able to give clear example of the impact of design decisions on the way the buildings are used, managed and enjoyed. Alan was able to explain the challenges faced by architects when taking on a community development project and how important it is to work collaboratively with local people throughout the design process. He was also able to point to both the opportunities and challenges of both new build and refurbishment projects, making it clear that it is essential to assess each project individually. David discussed the importance and value of community assets in the current climate and the impact the current Big Society agenda and emerging Localism Bill could have on local communities and community buildings.

There is a dedicated page on The Glass-House website which captured the points from the presentations and discussion. 

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Design Workshop and Study Tour in Sheffield

Submitted by hannah gibbs

Yesterday we spent the day with the Friends of Millhouses Park group who are trying to bring their Mill Buildings back to life. We worked with BDR (Bureau of Design Research, University of Sheffield) to create a morning of workshops and an afternoon of site visits to give the group some skills and inspiration for their project.

Here are some of the things we got up to...

Presentations from Leo at BDR about the design process

Activities exploring the different roles and stages during the design process

Making collages to express the group's vision

A tour of Butcher Works - A fabulous historic works which has been converted into housing, commercial space, workshops and a cafe

Visiting the First Start Centre in Firth Park - A multi use building which caters for a huge variety of users and acts as a social space for the park at weekends

A look round the Hillsborough Park Bowling Pavilion which is a fantastic example of a building which blends seamlessly with the park it sits in

Hopefully the day will have helped the group to move their project forward - they came away full of ideas and tonnes to think about before their next workshop with us in a couple of weeks.

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Edinburgh debate: The Sustainable Community Building: Refurbishment vs New Build

Submitted by Jaina Patel

On Thursday 21st October 2010 The Glass-House and partner organisations held a lively and interactive debate in Edinburgh looking the sustainability of the community building in the contexts of new builds and refurbishments. The debate was the first in series of 4 taking place across the UK over the coming months.

Our panel of speakers included David Tyler, Chief Exec of Community Matters, Charles Strang, Principal of Charles Alexander Strang Associates, Rob Hoon, Co-ordinator of Out of the  Blue Arts & Education Trust (a community centre which went through the process of a refurbishment) and Catherine Martin, Development Manager of Croy Miners' Welfare Charitable Society (for which a new community centre was built).  The debate welcomed a mixed audience which included design professionals, community organisations, local authority officers, funding bodies, academics and students who contributed to a lively discussion.

The discussion highlight the importance of the community buildings for local communities and explored some of the key opportunities and challenges that buildings bring with them. It also highlighted that community centres generally cater for a number of different interest groups and communities who have both shared and conflicting needs. Getting the building right for for those existing and future needs is crucial. There is a dedicated page to the themes raised from Thursdays debate which can be found at: 

Some questions that emerged in the discussion with the audience include:

• How can we ensure that the design process involves a broad section of the community yet gives the design team a clear and representative client with whom to engage?
• How can you keep communities engaged and interested during the design and build process when it takes an average of 7 years from inception to completion? 
• How can we improve the relationship between the local council and people, who we believe want many of the same things but are not sure how to engage with each other?
• Is it a good idea to produce new community centres using a kit/ modular approach? Would this produce centres that are appropriate for the local context and that are sustainable in the long term? 

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