North Harrow Cultural Centre
London, UK
The two-story North Harrow community centre current under construction accommodates a library, exhibition space, kindergarten, conference facilities and a sports hall in a deep basement. The scheme also incorporates an Islamic prayer space but has no visible symbols to encourage the community centre’s use by the wider public living in the neighbourhood. The site is located on a designated flood plain and was designed to mitigate the impact of rising water levels by incorporating a series of anti- flood measures including the use of permeable landscape and soakaways.
The scheme is designed as a BREEAM Excellent, minimizing its energy use and carbon footprint with a range of active and passive measures including PV cells, green walls and natural ventilation. North Harrow is now one of the most multicultural parts of London and the filigree on the building’s façade depicts through geometric patterns the migration of the client group from Persia to India, East Africa and finally to Harrow. The patterned facade also describes by the arts and crafts movement in Harrow and misdoing the work of William Morris.
London Mayor, Sadiq Khan on North Harrow Community Centre