Public BuildingsPadnall Hall

A BREEAM "Excellent" retrofit transforms a derelict community centre into a vibrant youth hub.

RCKa was appointed by Barking & Dagenham’s regeneration company Be First to undertake a deep retrofit of a derelict community centre in the heart of Marks Gate, in the north of the borough, and to transform the building into a new youth hub, including a multi-use hall, media production suites, teaching kitchen and meeting spaces.

Working closely with young people from the local area, the project is an exemplar for targeted co-design, focusing on social value outputs and meaningful long-term impacts.

The initial funding application emphasized the acute need for youth infrastructure: Barking and Dagenham has the largest proportion of under 18s in the country, with Marks Gate ranking in the top 10% of deprived neighbourhoods in the country. With support from the Youth Investment Fund we will transform the wellbeing and prospects of young people, delivering genuine social value and positive outcomes for the wider community.

As part of our commission, we ran a series of in-depth design workshops with a small group of young people to come up with ideas for the layout and programme of the new centre, practising presentation and communications skill, and building their confidence to speak about their built environment and the issues that affect them.


Designed to achieve BREEAM "Excellent" rating


“The 2 courses were amazing and taught me a lot in architectural terms. I loved listening to everyone's thoughts for their designs. Very excited to see how Padnall Hall will turn out. I would also love to see my influence on the design!” … “I would like to thank the teams involved. Thank you very much for this opportunity.”

Nabid (16), Design Course Attendee

As a hyperlocal piece of youth infrastructure within an existing community asset, collaboration and engagement was key to the design process, building on an existing sense of ownership and community identity. Early engagement with young people unearthed a deeply held passion for sustainability. To the young people we spoke to, their relationship with the climate crisis is an intensely personal one. The ambitious sustainability targets are a direct result of this dialogue.

A key objective was to use the engagement as an educational tool to build confidence, up-skill, and inform local young people about careers in the built environment and sustainable construction.

When complete, the building will provide an exceptional range of inclusive spaces, including three sensory spaces throughout the youth centre that seek to offer choice to building users with neurodiverse needs.



Client
Be First / London Borough of Barking & Dagenham
Youth Investment Fund

Status
On site

Location
Marks Gate, Dagenham, London

Project Team
Anna Crew
Dieter Kleiner
Anthony Staples
Emily Temperton
Rhiona Williams
Yara Taha

Structural Engineer
SimpleWorks

MEP
Woodcote Engineering

Landscape
Studio ONB

Sustainability
Ekolytic

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