Meadowvale Community Centre

The practice supported Meadowvale Community Centre in proposals for a major renovation and extension the existing centre in two phases. The proposals include an all-purpose hall with ancillary accommodation including toilets, changing rooms and stores. The hall is designed to meet Sport England standards for a community hall.

The existing building was constructed in the 1940’s to serve as a housing maintenance office for the council estate. In the 1986 it became surplus to needs, and Meadow Vale Community Association was formed by local residents to serve to the local community.

The building is now used for a range of community activities, including bingo, community meetings and a range of sporting and children’s activities along with a community café. The number of activities are limited by the size of the existing building, and it has suffered declining usage. The Association plans to revive the site by enlarging the facility to to allow a greater range of activities on the site.

The proposal is a major milestone for a project that local residents have been demanding for many years. St George NP has supported this project as well as the recent construction of a new play area and other improvements in the adjacent park.

The work is to be carried out in two phases. Phase I is refurbishment of existing building with a simple extension to double the area of the building. Phase II is a larger extension to form a hall with attached store and shower facilities, along with enlarged toilets and changing rooms. The work includes external insulation and re-roofing of the existing building, with a covered porch on the front elevation to match the proposed hall in the second phase. Form of the building is simple, and uses primary colours to give a strong identity and link the old and new parts.

The building was subject to a Community Asset Transfer from Bristol City Council.  Planning was approved by Bristol City Council in January 2017, and follwing grant funding from Ibstock Cory and Bristol Rotary work started on the initial phase in 2018.