Parkwood Community Centre

Parkwood is an area short on amenities and recreational facilities; it was in this context that the Parkwood Community Association was formed and the original Centre built in 1974. 

Consisting of a community centre, social club and day care, with an adjoining youth club, by 2000 the facilities were in dire need of expansion and upgrade. The split level plan was not accessible, the building lacked the space and the flexibility to cope with growing demand for its facilities. The centre was losing customers. 

Within a very tight budget, Clay Architecture delivered a scheme for extensions, alterations and refurbishment that provides: 

• A new accessible front entrance and identity
• All accommodation on a accessible and inclusive single level
• A dedicated children’s day care
• A flexible use community space adaptable to different sized activities and events
• A new children’s outdoor activity area

Part funded by a successful Big Lottery bid, when the centre re-opened at the beginning of 2011, it went from losing customers to being booked solid months in advance. 

  The revamped centre is popular for weddings ( which it had never hosted before the works ) and, surprisingly, ethnic dance parties— the folding partitions allow DJs to play to boys and girls in separate rooms at the same time, a use that neither we nor the community centre predicted.