Providing a New Heart for a Rural Community

TypeCommunity Centre

LocationBallyforan, Co. Roscommon, Ireland

Year2023

StatusOngoing

ProgramCrèche, Gym, Multi-purpose Hall, Club House, Common Area

Size1,610 m²

Site1,955 m²

ClientBallyforan Area Transition Team

Reimagining a ruin to meet community needs

Ballyforan, located between Athlone, Ballinasloe, and Roscommon, has grown into a commuter hub with increasing demands. Its population surged by 25% before the 2008 economic crash, compared to the national increase of 10%. However, community facilities have not kept pace. Claremont Grounds, owned by Roscommon County Council and previously used for agriculture, is now available for community use. A historic coach house on the grounds stands as a ruin with an uncertain future. This presents an opportunity to address community needs by repurposing the coach house into a community centre. Reusing the coach house remembers the past while meeting community needs reflects the present and designing an exemplar to sustainability is a gift to the future.

Diverse and unified

The community centre integrates the historic coach house for key functions (club house, bar, games room, meeting rooms, administration) while providing separate volumes for other essential functions (crèche, gym, sports hall). This blend of volumes represents both the unity and the diversity of a community.

A building inside a building

The new community centre houses the historic coach house ruin

01 Stabilizing The Coach House

The structure is stabilized and kept in it’s current form and expression. New elements are added to meet the new functions.

02 Functions As Volumes

Each key function has it’s own volume which is designed with an optimised layout and height giving distinct sizes.

03 Responding To Context

The volumes are rotate to save trees where possible and to create a welcoming approach from the Claremont Grounds entrance path.

04 Connected Flexible Common Space

The space in between the volumes becomes a common area for meeting and relaxing where members of the community come together.

05 Holistic Roof Cover

The roof is a collection of angled pitches that traverses from the highest point to the lowest in a manner that opens roof-lights for natural light and ventilation.

06 Distinct Openings

The window’s and openings of the volumes are unique, responding to distinct functional and environmental needs and providing a clear identity for each.

A centre to foster community

A key goal of any community centre is to bring people together and create a space for interaction and engagement. To achieve this the building should be open and welcoming, responding to the context in a way that invites users. It should also be both civic and playful, unified and diverse, a place where people can feel at home.

Engaging with the park

The volumes of the centre and the placement of windows and opening is designed to create a playful interaction between the park and the centre. The volumes negotiate the location of trees and open out into the park.

Distinct identities make the whole

Reflective of a community, the Ballyforan Community Centre is a collection of different elements coming together to make a whole. Each element has a specific function and is designed fulfil that in the most efficient way. The historic coach house which once held an important function within the village, but has sat as a ruin for decades, is brought back into use as a games room and club house, playing a key role at the heart of the community centre.

A communal living room

The building is designed to encourage community interaction, with wedged zones between core functions acting as common spaces for locals to meet, catch up, and relax. The old coach house is re-established as a key structure serving Ballyforan and remembering its past.

Integrated furniture and functions

Within the walls of the communal living room are integrated functions that extend into the room to activate the space.

A feeling of home

Domestic actions like making a coffee or preparing a snack are brought into the communal areas to encourage informality and establish a sense of home.

A multifunctional hall

The sports hall is the size of a full basketball court. This is to facilitate a variety of activities form sports to drama and community functions. The glass wall connects the hall with the communal area allows it to double as a viewing space.