Southend YMCA eco-hub |
Sector
Charity
Scope of works
Refurbishment
Size
2,500 sq ft
Occupancy
25 people
Address
6a St Johns Road, Southend-on-Sea
Winners of the Southend Design Award 2010!
Southend YMCA supports around 500 marginalised young people in the area and wanted to provide them with opportunities for starting their businesses as a way of helping them progress towards independence and greater inclusion. The project has received funding from the European Regional Development Fund. It allows young disadvantaged entrepreneurs to benefit from the conversion of a dilapidated historic building into a new refurbishment Eco-Hub facility providing affordable workspace, meeting rooms and conference facilities.
The design incorporates environmental principles aiming to achieve a BREEAM "very good" rating and provides flexible studio space for environmental innovation. The design proposals blend the historical context of the existing stables; the London stock brick and aged aesthetic with a contemporary, flexible interior space. The interior is designed to compliment the Victoriana, drawing on the raw existing materials but creating a modern inspirational interior space with crisp lines and naturally lit spaces. The exterior space maximises on the flexibility of the Eco-Hub, contemporary benching and planters made from re-used timber provide an infusion of old and new. The exterior has been designed to allow the remediation of the existing grounds whilst increasing the ecological value of the local area.
The Eco-Hub will use only ethically sourced and environmentally friendly materials and will encourage greater biodiversity.
