Wales

Contractors praised their performance on new community centre project

Phoenix Centre GoodwickProgressing on time and under budget with just three months to completion, is the construction of the Phoenix Centre in Wern Road, Goodwick, providing a new community facility serving the twin towns of Fishguard & Goodwick and their surrounding rural villages.

The project is being carried out by Enzo’s Construction, who have been commended for their work on the scheme.

“The contract team is doing very well and have helped us to achieve savings on the contract.” said Project Architect Mr Tom Kinver of Kinver Kreations, who became involved with the project through being a regular visitor to the former facility which the new centre is replacing.

“In the interests of the community spirit we convinced our design team to waiver our fees for the project” he said and added “We tried to come up with an inspiring concept that would capture the imagination so that we would be able to raise grant money for it”Phoenix Centre Goodwick

The design principle for the new building was based on the idea of the sports club embracing the community, represented by the way the changing rooms wrap themselves horizontally around to embrace the community part of the building and form a large terrace.

The Big Lottery and the Welsh Assembly Government have contributed ÂŁ1 million towards the project, with further funding coming from local organisations and local people.

The new centre is being built in a combination of single and two storeys’ on the site of Fishguard & Goodwick Sports Club’s former clubhouse. The site is equidistant between Fishguard and Goodwick and is centered within the twin town’s playing fields at Phoenix Park. It is located on land reclaimed from what was, prior to 1974, the local rubbish tip. Hence the name Phoenix Park – the new centre is literally rising from the ashes.

The driving force behind the project is the local sports clubs’ commitment to open up the new building to wider community use. The club’s consultations reveal that the new centre will be used by over 4,500 people on a regular basis, from over 65 different community groups. It is a project unique in Wales; whereby a number of local sports clubs (cricket, football, rugby, squash and tennis) have joined forces with cultural groups, disability support groups, Pembrokeshire Youth Service, senior citizens and Pembrokeshire Lifelong Learning.Phoenix Centre Goodwick

The single storey section of the building will have four large changing rooms, two for rugby with eight showers and toilet facilities each. There will also be two football/cricket changing rooms with seven showers and toilets facilities each. To keep the buildings footprint as small as possible, the changing rooms will open directly onto two sports pitches.

There is also a separate officials changing room with independent shower and toilet facilities, accessed via a medical room. A large store with external access can be used by the sports club for storing training and line marking equipment.

The main two storey section of the building incorporates the main entrance leading to a naturally well lit foyer area which also contains the male, female and unisex disabled toilets, plus the stairs and lifts which lead to the first floor.

Opposite the entrance are double doors leading into a large community function room. This large space can also be divided with an acoustic folding partition into a function room and smaller meeting room. This room has plenty of fenestration to provide good views of the three sports playing areas and admit lots of natural light.

The first floor is accessed from the main foyer area, and will offer an elevated panoramic perspective of all three playing areas and the pleasing scenery beyond. A viewing terrace projects out on the south east elevation towards the rugby pitch to form a balcony. Also on the first floor are the music and conference room and a large store room to provide adequate space for the safe storage of musical instruments.

The external envelope of the building has been designed to be low maintenance, cost effective, quick to build, look new for longer, secure, easily repaired and cleaned in the event of vandalism.

Due to the ground conditions and budget, the building is a lightweight structure with wooden cladded upper elevations and lower areas faced in a quality pointed buff block. The building also features powder coated aluminum framed windows and doors and high level glazing around the changing room areas, which will provide natural light and ventilation whilst retaining privacy,

The mono-pitch roofs are clad with environmentally friendly Alwitra Evalon polymer proprietary membrane.

Enzo’s Construction has received top marks from the prestigious Considerate Contractors Scheme for their work on the project.

Considerate Constructors inspectors check construction sites across the UK for their safety, good neighbourliness, cleanliness, environmental impact, responsibility and accountability.

In all categories Enzos’ Phoenix Centre site scored in the top 10% margin; with an overall score of 34 from a maximum of 40. This is one of the highest scores in Wales and automatically qualifies the site and its contractors for a place in the UK Annual Awards.

About the author

Roma Publications