AOC wins Berkshire community centre contest

AOC has won the RIBA competition to design a new community centre for Shinfield in Berkshire.

The winning design proposal was selected from a strong shortlist that included Adams and Sutherland, Ayre Chamberlain Gaunt, Curl la Tourelle Head and Studio Partington.

The judges said it demonstrated a strong understanding of the requirements of the brief and provided a simplistic, efficient design that would sit comfortably alongside the existing buildings surrounding School Green.

The primary purpose of the new community centre is to provide versatile facilities for the local community, providing spaces that will bring the community together.

The local council hope the new centre will become a hub of activity with facilities for new and existing local groups and clubs as well as attractive meeting and event facilities.

Jonathan McDowell from Matter Architecture, who was acting as the RIBA adviser, said: “The five shortlisted teams provided a rich variety of responses to the challenging brief, each with numerous strong points that the panel found instructive to compare.

“AOC emerged as the clear winner, proposing a simple, robust and relaxed building that uses familiar elements to create a highly functional and flexible building which will act as a distinctive and engaging focus for Shinfield’s growing community; a well-judged and elegantly presented proposal.”

Anthony Pollock, chairman of Shinfield Community Centre Management Committee, described it as “a wonderful design that echoes many existing architectural features from the local area”.

Geoff Shearcroft, a director of AOC Architecture, said: “We are extremely proud to have been selected by Shinfield Parish Council to work with them in developing their vision for a new community centre to accommodate the evolving needs of their growing population. Like many towns and villages in the south-east of England, Shinfield is experiencing rapid residential development and the creation of a coherent, integrated public building and landscape in the historic centre is essential to its continued success.”