Aviemore Sports Centre Project
Project Summary
The Aviemore Sports Centre Project is led by a board of local people who want to open an environmentally friendly community sports facility to provide health, training and employment benefits.
Project Background
A board of directors made up of local people with an interest in sport came together in 2007 after a public meeting to work on developing plans for a community-owned and managed sports centre in Aviemore, Inverness-shire. Their aims are to provide world-class indoor sports facilities which cater for both the local community and the tourists who visit the area for skiing. The board also wish the sports centre to provide employment and training opportunities for local (especially young) people and be a place where people can socialise and come together as a community.
Glass-House Involvement
The group originally got in touch with the Glass-House to come along to our Buildings Study Tour in Glasgow, where they gained inspiration for the design of their centre.
The Glass-House organised two workshops to support the group to move to the next stage of the project. The first workshop was led by Howard Liddell of Gaia Architects and focused on how to develop a design brief. He gave examples of completed sports centres he had been involved with to demonstrate what can be achieved.
The second workshop was run by the Glass-House and gave the group ideas and techniques of how to involve the wider community in the development of the design of the centre. The workshop included a visioning exercise to get the group thinking about what kind of place the sports centre will be, how it will feel and what it will mean for the different people working their or visiting it. This workshop gave the group the opportunity to start thinking about the look and design of the centre by creating mood boards made up of pictures of elements from other sports centres.
Community Involvement
The board is made up entirely of local volunteers and they stay in touch with residents, tourists and businesses in Aviemore through their website and newsletter.
The board ran a logo competition for the centre which attracted over 160 entries from local children and 250 people to the launch event. The board also have a good relationship with various local businesses and already have lots of ideas about how they will work together when the centre is up and running.
Project Support Outcomes
The support programme gave the group the time to consider the project together and assess carefully what work has been done to date and what work is outstanding.
The board gained a framework to develop their design brief and the confidence to start work on this.
The workshops gave the board some techniques and activities which they can replicate with the wider community to get their input into the design of the sports centre.
Response from the Group
"Great to hear from a professional with lots of experience and very practical advice"
"Gained full view of developing a brief – a lot more to it than what I thought. Very helpful session"
"It was helpful to understand how to look at what we like/dislike about other similar projects/sports centres"
Latest Update from the Group
The group are currently trying to negotiate the lease of the land for the centre and are also working on fundraising. The board intend to use the evidence of the work done with the Glass-House to secure funding for the sports centre.
Group Supported
Aviemore Sports Centre Project Group
Group Location
Aviemore, Invernesshire, Scotland
Project Category
Buildings
Project Features
Sports, Rural
How The Glass-House helped
Design Brief Workshop
Community Engagement Workshop
Project Support Outcomes
Assess project to date and work outstanding
Design Brief Framework
Community input
Project Support Dates
Other Glass-House Support
Buildings Study Tour
Glass-House Enabler
Howard Liddell, Gaia Architects
We had an excellent day and the places we visited were amazingly close to what we are trying to create here in Stockwell. I am grateful for your acute interest in what we have to say
Can I once again thank Glass-House for all their help and interest. You are an excellent organisation – and the staff are lovely as well!”
The training experience was extremely enjoyable and very informative. We have come away with a design which we feel we can put into reality and the training was probably the best I have attended.
The course was excellent and I can't thank you and Glass-House enough for the support you've given us, it has made all the difference to the way we look at the project."
