Sports and Community Hall - Woolfardisworthy, Devon, UK.
The brief was for a new high quality, low maintenance multi-functional community facility. Gale & Snowden worked extensively with members of the community to achieve the final design to meet all their needs and requirements. A proven commitment from the community together with this highly innovative and ecological design attracted substantial funding from the Sports Lottery who have expressed special interest in the exemplary features of the design.
Materials & special features:
- Breathing construction: single leaf load-bearing dense blockwork internally with external timber frame and unseasoned oak weather boarding.
- Superinsulation throughout using recycled newsprint
- Airtight - construction to reduce heat loss through the fabric of the building
- Thermal mass - internal walls and floor
- Low water and low energy use appliances
- Rainwater collection from roof to all WC's
- Organic paints, stains and waxes throughout
- Natural, durable & low maintenance finishes
- Passive solar gain from roof light & thermal mass for heat storage
- Energy efficient heating system with underfloor heating
- Multi functional spaces. Main hall to be converted easily to theatre, cinema and sports hall. Bowls alley, snooker room, meeting and crèche, gym/fitness, changing & storage facilities, etc.
- External facilities and private garden with fruit bearing trees, shrubs and pond
- External Amphitheatre using the building for acoustic resonance for day/evening performances and activities
The project has received funding from various sources including the Sports Lottery and the Football Association.
Extract from Press release
Woolfardisworthy, an isolated rural parish in North Devon has a new energy-efficient, multi-functional village hall and related leisure facilities thanks to the success of their £740,000 sports lottery bid for funding.
This provides 84% of funds for the project which has a total contract value of £855,000 With the close involvement of Woolsery community, EDA members Gale & Snowden, have designed a stunning new hall which includes many features that will provide an energy-efficient community centre, reflecting the needs and aspirations of the village who are 'keen to leave our grandchildren an asset and not a millstone'.
Gale & Snowden who specialise in ecological architecture, landscape and permaculture design, have incorporated special features such as super-insulation, thermal mass floors and internal walls, and a highly energy efficient boiler supplying under-floor heating. Triple glazed timber windows and doors improve energy efficiency further, and passive ventilation and solar gain make the most of naturally occurring energy sources.
It is a little known fact that buildings release almost half the annual total of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere, and with current concerns about global warming, it is encouraging to know that the features Gale & Snowden have incorporated into Woolsery's new community hall will significantly lessen its potential environmental impact through reduced emissions and improved energy efficiency.
Wherever possible, materials will be sustainably sourced and non-toxic and this tends towards natural products such as organic paints, stains and waxes. The roof will be of local natural slate and the use of green oak boarding means that the external wood cladding will not require chemical preservative treatment.
The grounds of the community hall will be extensively landscaped to include an amphitheatre for outdoor productions in the summer, and belts of native trees will provide shelter from the prevailing winds, and privacy for sporting activities.
Members of Woolsery parish were looking to the future with a new community hall which reflected their desire to care for the natural environment as well as to provide state-of-the art facilities for generations to come. Woolsery's new hall sets a precedent for future community-based designs.