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We were invited by the Kent Architecture Centre to participate in a public consultation exercise and design competition for a new community centre in Leysdown on the Isle of Sheppey. Our scheme and development strategy was chosen to be taken forward for further development by the design jury and client/user body.
The flexible, single storey building is planned around enclosed garden spaces, within sheltering earth banks, constructed from demolition material from the site. The materials and forms are recognisably modern and forward-looking, but we also wanted the buildings to feel homely, and to refer to local traditions of functional building. The double height, main social space of the building has a welcoming character opposed to the bleak, exposed setting. We worked with artist Paul Bartholomew who shared an interest in the rich qualities of late medieval wall painting; studies for his proposals for wall paintings were included in the proposal.
