Sands End Arts & Community Centre
A refurbishment benchmark for low-carbon community-centric design
Sands End Arts & Community Centre is a cluster of new pavilions around the refurbished Edwardian Clancarty Lodge in Sands Park. Providing shared, flexible spaces for art exhibitions and community events, alongside a café and a nursery, it is all run by the local community.
Located in Fulham, it is in an area with two contrasting parallels. Some of the richest homes in the country sit alongside some of the poorest. Hammersmith and Fulham Council wanted to create an open, inclusive, and accessible building to unite the whole community. Therefore, community involvement and engagement was a vital aspect of the schemes’ design development. The building was funded by Tideway and Chelsea Football Club.
- Architect
- Mæ Architects
- Client
- Hammersmith & Fulham Council
- Location
- London
Impact
Sands End Arts & Community Centre is an uplifting, sustainable community centre with an adaptable design that will serve residents for generations.
Sustainability was a key part of our brief. This resulted in 35% of the new building being made from recycled products, including WasteBasedBricks, an innovative new brick made from waste products used for the first time in the UK. We also used responsibly sourced cross-laminated timber.
- RIBA London Regional Awards — shortlist 2022
- AJ Awards — winner 2021
- Structural Timber Awards Architect of the Year — winner 2021
- Civic Trust Awards — regional finalist 2021
- Wood Awards — shortlist, 2021
- AJ Retrofit Awards — shortlist 2021
- Dezeen Awards — longlist 2021
- New London Awards, Culture & Community — winner 2018
Awards
-
2022 RIBA Stirling Prize - Shortlisted
-
2022 RIBA National Award
-
2022 RIBA London Building of the Year
-
2018 New London Awards - Culture & Community
History & Context
Sands End Arts & Community Centre is located in South Park, former farming land initially known as Broom Farm and later as Southfields Farm.
By the 1880s, the site, along with adjacent arable land to the southeast, was leased to James Veitch & Sons, a renowned horticultural enterprise. During this time glasshouses predominated the site's landscape, likely serving as an extension of Veitch & Sons Royal Exotic Nursery located northeast of King's Road.
In 1903, Fulham Borough Council acquired the land. The Lodge and adjoining pavilion were probably constructed around this time, as they are documented on the 1916 historical map. Initially serving as the park keeper's residence (a two-storey house) and Gertrude Ecketts' refreshment room respectively, these structures were integral to the park's early development.
The chosen site for Sands End Arts & Community Centre had been derelict for many years. Our engineers worked closely with Mæ architects to develop a full timber frame design that offered a contemporary interpretation of the 19th-century glasshouses and its horticultural past.
At the end of 2017, Hammersmith and Fulham Council approved plans for Clancarty Lodge, the original Edwardian Park lodge and café, dating from 1903, to be restored and integrated into the new development.
Images: Extract axonometric drawing of the Royal Exotic Nurseries at Chelsea (Hortus Veitchii. 1906. James Veitch); Print of Veitch Orchid Glasshouse.
Sands End Arts & Community Centre
Our Approach
Long-life, loose-fit
We engineered a seemingly simplistic structure using exposed glulam and cross-laminated timber. The project included the refurbishment of Clancarty Lodge, the demolition of an attached pavilion building and the erection of new, fully accessible, single-storey buildings.
These buildings provide an arts and community centre with an ancillary café, children's day nursery, associated landscaping works, cycle parking and a new pedestrian entrance to the site.The design approach was led by Mæ Architects for Hammersmith and Fulham Council.
The adopted long-life, loose-fit mantra meant buildings were crafted from raw materials in keeping with its park-side location. Durability and adaptability for future change of use were also factored into the final material choices and design.
We engineered a seemingly simplistic structure using exposed glulam and cross-laminated timber. The project included the refurbishment of Clancarty Lodge, the demolition of an attached pavilion building and the erection of new, fully accessible, single-storey buildings.
These buildings provide an arts and community centre with an ancillary café, children's day nursery, associated landscaping works, cycle parking and a new pedestrian entrance to the site.The design approach was led by Mæ Architects for Hammersmith and Fulham Council.
The adopted long-life, loose-fit mantra meant buildings were crafted from raw materials in keeping with its park-side location. Durability and adaptability for future change of use were also factored into the final material choices and design.
Exposed timber structure
The structure comprises a sustainably sourced cross-laminated timber (CLT) frame that is left exposed to reduce the level of carbon which would be emitted from using plasterwork.
The timber frames’ lightweight nature also lessens the foundation design requirements and sequesters carbon. The timber frames’ simple ‘bolt together’ construction means it can be easily demounted, recycled or reused in the future.
The structure comprises a sustainably sourced cross-laminated timber (CLT) frame that is left exposed to reduce the level of carbon which would be emitted from using plasterwork.
The timber frames’ lightweight nature also lessens the foundation design requirements and sequesters carbon. The timber frames’ simple ‘bolt together’ construction means it can be easily demounted, recycled or reused in the future.
Structured for simplicity
The glulam and cross-laminated timber system is a comprehensive and visible structural solution that brings a sense of simplicity, efficiency, and beauty to the whole design. Creating such elegance that avoids superfluous finishes and leaves the structure exposed requires a tremendous amount of engineering.
The glulam and cross-laminated timber system is a comprehensive and visible structural solution that brings a sense of simplicity, efficiency, and beauty to the whole design. Creating such elegance that avoids superfluous finishes and leaves the structure exposed requires a tremendous amount of engineering.
Engineering Solutions
The structure comprises a sustainably sourced cross-laminated timber (CLT) frame that is left exposed to reduce the level of carbon which would be emitted from using plasterwork.The timber frames’ lightweight nature also lessens the foundation design requirements and sequesters carbon. The timber frames’ simple ‘bolt together’ construction means it can be easily demounted, recycled or reused in the future.
The glulam and cross-laminated timber system is a comprehensive and visible structural solution that brings a sense of simplicity, efficiency, and beauty to the whole design. Creating such elegance that avoids superfluous finishes and leaves the structure exposed requires a tremendous amount of engineering.
The exterior bricks are made with WasteBasedBricks, which are from 60% recycled materials and are used here for the first time in the UK.
Image: WasteBasedBricks by Stone Cycling
RIBA Stirling Prize 2022: Sands End Community Centre
Construction
The timber frames’ lightweight nature also lessens the foundation design requirements and sequesters carbon. The timber frames’ simple ‘bolt together’ construction means it can be easily demounted, recycled or reused in the future.
Sands End Arts & Community Centre
Finalisation
