phoenix

Park Pavilion, Castlefields Youth Activity Park, Runcorn

The new park pavilion was commissioned by Halton Borough Council as part of the regeneration of the Town Park funded by a Sports Council grant, including a new playground, basketball court, skate park, climbing boulder and new green and hard landscape features. Whilst fulfilling the functions of community and educational centre, providing facilities for the park and housing the Park Rangers, its main role is to bring together the two disparate communities on either side of the park, Castlefields and Astmoor.

It was a requirement of the brief that the building must be robust. Hence it was designed as a polished concrete shell, half buried in the hillside. Surveillance and views out are offered by its large glazed openings. For security, these are covered at night by roller shutters, whose yellow boxes act through the day to emphasise the building’s entrance. It stands as a beacon for the gateway to the park from the north. However from the top of the hill it is completely invisible, until you have walked onto its roof.

The decision was taken early on that the concrete would be body coloured a deep "raven grey", which allows the building toblend into the rolling landscape of the park. The concrete is polished and has a lustrous appearance; the surfaces pick up and reflect the surrounding landscape.

The concrete is waterproofed within the mix, alleviating the necessity for any exposed flashings or coverings to the accessible roof, which would be vulnerable to failure or vandalism over time.

Client: Halton Borough Council

Architect: Hot Architecture

Contractor: Thomas Winstanley & Son Ltd