Learning Centre

New Learning Centre

New public space and Learning Centre

We are proposing a new Learning Centre and volunteer hub in the Nursery Yard by Vanbrugh Gate. This will create a unique new public space in an area that visitors currently have no access to. The Learning Centre will be a fantastic new venue for community and school learning and wellbeing activities. We are consulting local people on these activities, but they could include:

• Yoga, dance and meditation• Arts and crafts classes• Horticulture volunteering and training• Stay and Play sessions for pre-school children• Grow and cook sessions – healthy eating• Lectures, talks and debates• Vanbrugh Café – conversion of a lodge currently a residential let into a café

The Learning Centre will be designed by Architype, award-winning architects who specialise in sustainable buildings. Their previous projects include the Sydenham Garden Resource Centre, Horniman Museum Library and The University of East Anglia’s Enterprise Centre, dubbed as the UK’s greenest building in 2015.

It’s important that the Learning Centre is financially sustainable beyond the life of the Greenwich Park Revealed project, so it will also be a commercial space that can be hired for weddings, meetings and private events and activities.

We have been working with a range of stakeholders to develop initial ideas for the building. Here is a summary of our aspirations so far:

A building that creates an impact

• A new world class contemporary park pavilion of the highest design and construction standard

• A building that the community can love

• Your Park, Your Community, Your Building

• A building for everyone - allages, all abilities – that enriches community life within the park

• A building that serves the park for the long-term

• A building revealed within the park• Highly visible not as hidden away• A visually striking building with

a strong identity – creating a conversation, drawing people in

• A strong presence with a roof visible over the perimeter wall and enticing views from a distance

A building that reveals the park

• Creating new physical and visual connections - revealing the hidden workings of the park and a gateway to further exploration

• A new public courtyard – a new place in the park to meet and enjoy

• The wilderness & the deer – a new perspective on the deer and the enclosure

• A learning yard – expanded opportunities for community growing and learning

• The service yard – revealing behind the scenes operations and activity

• A building that is always welcoming• A building that always feels welcoming

and never feels ‘shut-up’ or closed• An information point integrated into the

building• The ability to informally drop-in to an

inviting community space, with changing exhibitions and seating

A building that connects to its environment

• Blurring the edge between building & landscape with generous inside/outside spaces and facades that filter & reflect

• Windows that open up panoramic views into the landscape and provide excellent levels of natural daylight

• A building for all seasons that can adapt to changes in climate and weather

• In Summer – opening up and providing shade and cooling

• In Winter – wrapping up and providing shelter and warmth

A building that is durable, adaptable and high value

• Durable materials and finishes that stay looking good and are low maintenance

• A series of highly flexible spaces that can effectively support a wide range of community uses now and in the future

• A building that is a unique and highly attractive venue for hire– hosting a wide range of private celebrations and events

• A building that is a sustainable exemplar

• A building that sets a new standard for park buildings in terms of energy efficiency and reduced carbon emissions

• A building that innovates and celebrates the use of recycled, local and natural materials in contemporary architecture

• A building that is a learning tool, engaging visitors in a tactile and visual way with how the building works in harmony with the environment