Here’s what one client said…

Just a quick note to thank you for your time and assistance yesterday.You were able to provide us with lots of ideas and advice in a short period of time and solved the problem of designing in a study. We now have a firm view of how to move forward on our remodelling project which we didn’t have before the meeting. You could build a second career in marriage guidance counselling!

For more details on the Free Consultation service and how you can get plenty of help and advice while pushing us towards our next target of £7,000 click here

You will by now have read part one, and hopefully implemented, the first stages of galvanising a smooth and efficient process for delivering a new sports facility – now you simply need to agree and design its contents. Should be easy really…….shouldn’t it?

For the most part the need for a new facility has been generated by a need to grow and provide greater levels of accommodation than that previously enjoyed by the club. However in order to reinstate the existing provisions – say 4 changing rooms and ancillary facilities – may infact need to occupy a physical footprint greatly in excess of the existing building…….and thus not really yield any growth at all, but why?

In order to secure finance from public funds or sports governing bodies a new facility will need to abide by their current guidelines and restrictions – and even if not using funding from these sources their design guidance is often best practice advise and worthy of following.

These guidelines as has been noted above may lead to similar provisions needing greater space, as for instance a new facility will need to cater for increased / and easier security for its youth and child members where by the WC  and washing accommodation may need to be included within each individual changing room, rather than communally as may have been the case with the existing building, and as such you find you now need 4 changing rooms with 4 dedicated shower areas – but this allows for closer and easier supervision of more vulnerable users.

Even for the senior members the space allowed for within each changing room may be greater than that presently afforded – these are often laid down both in terms of bench space per player as well as square meterage of free area in the changing room, the RFU currently require 1sqm per player thus meaning a free area of up to 22sqm not including benches or showering area etc – I would wager there are not many facilities currently in use that can provide such palatial surroundings.

It may also be that the club wishes or has been approached to provide a female team where previously only male teams had been fielded in the past. The inclusion of this increase in players will also effect the way the building can be planned so as to allow privacy from other opposing sex teams. This may simply be a matter of adding dividing doors to a corridor, but may also require additional entry and exists to the building – without compromising any issues of fire safety or security.

But the focus of any sports club is not solely aimed at the playing side itself – many pride themselves on the social side of membership being of equal importance. So we need a function room and bar!

Well by definition these are not often small discreet spaces but can add dramatically to the success and indeed viability of a new building – perhaps this could be housed above the changing areas?, a course often taken and one which can often yield better views of the sport in question – but can pose serious questions as to acceptability from the Local Authority, building too tall sorry! But it is these requirements that need to be negotiated by the Architect with the Local Authority in question, perhaps a compromise could be reached or perhaps a redesigned roof could allow sufficient space.

For the above reasons it is vital that the design of the proposed building is well considered so as to minimise any wasted space – the building will grow by the restrictions paced upon it in any event so waste cannot often be accepted from either financial or local planning reasons.

As these matters are further developed and investigated the successful formation of a Steering Committee shows it true value – being able to successfully act as the link between design team and membership to ensure the developed design is successful to users, authorities, governing bodies, building control and designers alike.

For further details or if you simply wish to discuss how you may move your own sports club forward with a development plan regardless of where you are in the UK please feel free to contact Stuart Ware at Studio 2.

The scheme, developed in conjunction with close negotiation with Tandridge District Council, was surprisingly refused at the 11th Hour by the council despite a positive and supporting report from the case officer. However the scheme once examined by the appeals procedure was granted full permission. The scheme will see the demolition of a large and rather rambling bungalow and its replacement with a more compact 2 storey home in a style more appropriate with its rural location with the decision stating that the proposal ‘’would also enhance the openness and visual amenities of the Green Belt and conserve and enhance the landscape character of the area’’

It seems such a simple proposal doesn’t it? Numerous sports clubs around the country are fast outgrowing their current facilities and are looking to expand and develop their existing clubhouse with a new building or an extension and remodelling of their existing one, as we have seen first hand with our involvement with Rugby Clubhouse projects.

This not only results in better accommodation but also gives the opportunity of making this facility available to a larger membership, something that both central and local governments are pushing for with their calls for more inclusive sport on various levels.

But where to go from this very simple idea? Sports clubs are often a committee-run operation and function through the hard work and involvement of many within the club structure, often given for free depending on the level of the club. Many of those involved will have no previous experience of building such a facility, or even building at all, yet now face the task of steering through a potentially vital building project.

It is at this fundamental first step where projects can often stand or fall – or worse still just float around the club for years at end just crawling forward with false hope for the players and families. In our experience of this type of development it is key that a dedicated steering committee is formed with the sole purpose of delivering the project to the club and who are responsible for feeding back and gauging overall club opinion when and where necessary.

Too often decisions by large committees result in only one outcome – no decision at all. With the correct people in place with the authority to act for the club such a project can move forward and begin to develop its own momentum relatively simply.

At this time such a steering committee would be best to involve the services of an architectural practice such as ourselves who can help to identify the opportunities afforded to the project by the site or building in question, initially developing simple feasibility plans to help whet the appetite of the larger club membership and also to help identify potential budgets for the construction.

The right architectural practice can also guide you to those external bodies whom may be able to provide funding to them such as through the RFU, FA, Lottery Funding etc. and our experience to date demonstrates that getting this right early on is extremely important. Not only will this help to crystallise the task ahead with regard to fundraising for the build but in early development can help to identify how a new or improved facility may become a contributor itself by developing a sustainable building for the future.

If wished or needed designs can be prepared to allow increased revenue for the club to be generated via the inclusion of gyms, meeting rooms or even cafes which are often needed in newer clubhouses (if only to help with staffing costs). These issues are not often considered within current arrangements of what maybe a old and well-loved but failing building opened on an-as-and-when nature.

Please contact Stuart Ware who is currently involved with the new Clubhouse for ORRFC should you wish to see how your own project could be taken further – and hopefully into reality.

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You can find our entry at:

The Best of Farnham – Architects

You can also find us on The Best of Reigate website as well at:

The Best of Reigate – Architects

Mike’s experiences Project Managing multi-million pound projects as well as his residential construction knowledge and building construction legislation will no doubt help him to fit right in!

Welcome aboard Mike …