Designs are at an early stage for the refurbishment of a council housing office building into a community hub, offering outreach stations for services such as domestic abuse victim support, DWP Jobcentre, Citizens Advice Bureau, NHS health advice, Council Homeless team and more. The aim is to transform the outdated rooms into space which offers a stronger connection with the local community, with ease of access to the services they have said they are in most need of.
Stripping back layers of extraneous finishes, furnishings and partitions that have hindered the use of the space, the proposals open up the ground floor with deceptive simplicity. The solid timber front door is to be replaced with glass and external shuttering reduced, to improve the sense of welcome that the use requires.
Upon arrival, local residents can access important local services via the reception concierge or a bank of digital workstations. Small-scale meeting spaces and interview rooms are provided for one-to-one appointments, while the central space is reimagined as a co-working facility, for both the local community and certain council services.
Interiors are rethought and rebranded to appear less institutional, with neutral-warm tones and contrasting features to create a brighter, more vibrant space. Visual connectivity is a central theme throughout, with partitions removed, reduced in height or replaced with glass. Transparency at the heart of a local government operation.
