New Adult Education Centre, Lewisham

The Requirement

Lewisham Council had a requirement for a new purpose-designed adult education centre at Granville Park, which would regenerate a brownfield site and provide a range of facilities for the local community.

The Solution

Yorkon handed over the £3m centre just 13 weeks after the arrival of the building modules on site. The three-storey scheme was delivered on time and on budget.

Designed by Cartwright Pickard Architects and project managed by Mace, the centre has a contemporary design with timber solar shading to screen the windows on the south elevation, western red cedar cladding to bring texture and warmth, and slate grey panels to add further interest to the building envelope.

Yorkon manufactured the building off-site in York and craned 39 steel-framed modules into position in less than a week ready for the final stages of fitting out, significantly reducing the programme time and guaranteeing the quality of construction.

The off-site method overcame the issue of restricted access and the building is constructed on split levels with retaining walls to accommodate the slope of the site. Yorkon also achieved a short programme time to allow the Council to provide community services from the centre as early as possible.

Facilities at the Granville Park Centre include a food studies laboratory, workrooms for art, woodwork, upholstery and metalwork, an IT suite, general classrooms, and offices. The building also has a créche and an outdoor play area for children.

 Comments from the Client

Jackie Warnes, Centre Manager, Granville Park:

"We are very happy with the new facility. It is light and airy and provides a very pleasant environment for both staff and students. The building has exceeded our expectations."

Councillor Chris Best, Cabinet Member for Culture at Lewisham Council:

"The state-of-the-art adult education centre at Granville Park has provided the area with a valuable local resource that is now enabling many local people to enrich their lives. The use of off-site construction has meant the project was completed much more quickly and has satisfied our requirements for a high quality community facility."