Pease Pottage Community Centre, New Build, Slaugham 2019

New Build Community Centre Incorporating FA Approved Changing Facilities

Description

A new-build community centre at Finches Field in Pease Pottage, providing a focal point for community activities and to support the many sport and play activities that have been provided at Finches Field.

The new community centre is designed to be flexible enough to host a variety of events including village fetes, wedding receptions, social group meetings and sporting activities.

Finches Field is a popular location for sport so the new community centre has showers, toilets and changing facilities for sports teams to use. There is a separate shower and toilet for the referee and the changing rooms have their own entrance so that they can be used even when the main building is closed.

The main social area has capacity for 100 standing guests and seating for 50 to dine in comfort. The hall is serviced by a fully fitted kitchenette with ceramic hob, oven, fridge freezer, and an instant hot water dispenser for making teas and coffees. New parking facilities provide 26 parking spaces including 4 accessible spaces.

Key Challenges

Inclement weather

• Drying times: Cold weather posed a risk to drying times for wet products such as plaster, paints and screeds. To avoid this, we ensured electrical works were available in time to artificially heat the building with space heaters, blown air and convection heat to ensure wet products dried or cured during the optimal timeframe to ensure their performance.
  
  
• Ground conditions: The exposed nature of the site, in an open field, posed risks of trench collapse. Our experienced groundworkers identified this risk at preconstruction stage and developed a phased trench dig-and-fill system whereby trenches would be part-poured in stages to provided reinforcement and prevent collapse.
  
  

Logistics due do the isolated site and ground conditions

• Site organisation: Our experienced site manager designed a site compound layout to ensure both availability of materials just-in-time, and access to the forklift to replenish stores as deliveries were received. This system involved keeping thermalite blocks on one side and facing bricks on the other, allowing both interior and exterior gangs of bricklayers to access the materials and allowed for these works to be carried out concurrently.
  
  

Safety and Crime minimisation

• Site security: Due to the isolated nature of the site, we did not want our activities to bring opportunities for crime to the village we were working in. To that end, recorded CCTV and associated signage was installed at our own cost, along with secure climb-resistant Heras fencing with tamper-proof fixings holding it in place. 
  
  

Ecology and environment

• Tree protection: The site is home to a number of historically and ecologically significant trees, subject to a tree protection order. This order had potential to impact the canopy and site footprint. A drawing was obtained to show safe areas and the design adjusted in liaison with an aboriculturalist to ensure the building was constructed around the trees, and the movement of heavy plant would not damage vulnerable subterranean root systems.
  
  

Completion on-time and on-budget.

• Regular cost reports kept the client apprised of the financial position of the project, and extras were clearly costed and documented to ensure no overruns.

Pease Pottage Community Centre Photo Gallery