Burgess Park Sports Centre, London Borough of Southwark for Southwark Council with Bell Phillips, Built Engineers, Civic, Hilson Moran and LDA

Burgess Park Sports Centre, London Borough of Southwark for Southwark Council with Bell Phillips, Built Engineers, Civic, Hilson Moran and LDA

Burgess Park Sports Centre is a new community sports facility in a popular south London park. The building is a key element of Southwark Council’s expansion of accessible sports and community space across the borough, and a new landmark within one of London’s most important public green spaces. The sports centre includes a clubroom, changing rooms and public amenities, but is designed to be much more than a sports facility: its sculptural presence enhances the park and its value as a cherished public space.

What is the programme and use of the space? How does the project foster community, connect people and contribute to urban life?

At 56 hectares, Burgess Park is the largest public park in Southwark. It stretches from Camberwell and Walworth in the west to Peckham and the Old Kent Road in the east. It was developed in 1943 as part of the Abercrombie Plan for open spaces, in an area that was once home to factories, densely populated streets and the Surrey Canal before it was badly bombed during World War II. Today, Burgess Park is a cherished public open space serving one of London’s most diverse communities, and an important part of a local network of green spaces across Southwark. Burgess Park Sports Centre replaces an earlier sports facility at the eastern end of the park, which needed to be demolished and was running at over 90% capacity. With increased fixtures and funding, its associated sports clubs were rapidly outgrowing the size and offer of the available facilities. The new building – a key element in a wider masterplan for Burgess Park – was informed by a public consultation that highlighted the need for buildings and facilities in the park to work harder and deliver greater use, flexibility and capacity for activity across the park.

 How does the community space make a positive social and environmental contribution? 

Burgess Park Sports Centre houses improved facilities for visitors to Burgess Park’s cricket, rugby and football pitches and basketball court, as well as flexible community space. Bell Phillips worked closely with Southwark Council, specialist pitch consultant SSL and others to optimise the building for the widest possible set of users. The resulting centre includes a clubroom, changing rooms, public amenities and offices for park staff.
 
The building uses a simple form and robust materials to create a visually engaging, flexible and durable facility that can be enjoyed by sports teams and the diverse wider community for many years to come. The single storey building visibly tapers towards the entrance in both height and width, creating a natural point of focus within the park, and a legible point of arrival for pedestrians. Robust, natural materials complement the centre’s landscape setting: perforated copper panels are used as cladding for the building exterior and as a plant screen, arranged as pleats that animate the elongated façade. From a distance, this creates a strong vertical rhythm against a boulevard of mature lime trees, while closer up the façade creates an intriguing play of transparency, solidity and shadow.

Please explain the governance of the project, such as its viability, purpose, motivation and any consultation, co-creation or community engagement undertaken in the development of the community space. 

Burgess Park Sports Centre plays an important role in encouraging active lifestyles and wellbeing among a diverse local community, and also serves as an inviting building that enhances Burgess Park’s appeal and usability for everyone. The centre clubroom overlooks the outdoor sports pitches, providing a welcoming social space for players and spectators alike. In warm weather and on busy match days, the clubroom can be opened up to increase capacity and create a lively spatial experience. The opening of Burgess Park Sports Centre comes at a time of rapid growth in grassroots sport, particularly following the success of the Lionesses and the Red Roses, and the surge of interest in womens and girls; football and rugby. Burgess Park Sports Centre has already embraced this growth, with programmes supporting the local Latin American women’s football league, a weekend grassroots girls’ league, and new sessions for female and LGBTQ+ players. The building is all electric, with heating supplied by an air source heat pump. Internally, a simple palette of exposed materials is used, with an inherent robustness and durability to minimise maintenance requirements. Plywood linings, for instance, are among a series of low carbon finishes, specified for their low maintenance and recyclability. Externally, a green roof supports neighbourhood biodiversity.