News and Updates
Category: Community
29 March 2018
Storey's Field Centre opens its doors
Eddington, the flourishing new community being delivered by the University of Cambridge, has opened the Storey’s Field Centre, a landmark community centre and performance hall positioned at the heart of Eddington which will provide a place for residents to meet and interact.
The Storey’s Field Centre fulfils a social and cultural role for residents at Eddington, as well as the wider Cambridge community. Designed by architectural practice MUMA, the single-storey building – which has a main hall and two multi-purpose rooms – was specifically created to meet a wide range of uses. The early programme of events planned at the Storey’s Field Centre reflects the diverse needs it can cater for. The main hall, with a capacity of 180 people, is 15 metres high and acoustically engineered to provide an ideal event space for theatre, music and dance.
In March, budding scientists attended a ‘Hack your Brain’ event hosted by Ginny Smith as part of Cambridge Science Festival, while those keen to put on their dancing shoes can attend a St Patrick’s Day Ceilidh or sign-up for a weekend of swing dancing at Swing Sanctuary 2018. The venue has live music events planned throughout the year with local award winning promoters Green Mind. In the autumn the centre will host gigs with the Cambridge Jazz Festival and events as part of the Festival of Ideas. Regularly scheduled activities include Jazzercise, Parent & Toddler Group, Art Classes and Woodcraft Folk, and Stagecoach Drama School have moved their end of term performances to the venue.
The ongoing operation of the Storey’s Field Centre will be uniquely managed through a trust between Cambridge City Council and the University of Cambridge. Established in 2014, the Storey’s Field Community Trust is a registered charity with the six trustees meeting on a bi-monthly basis.
Heather Topel, Project Director of the North West Cambridge Development, commented: “The opening of the Storey’s Field Centre is a key milestone in the growth of Eddington. Shared community space is an important element of placemaking, through the provision of a place that enables people to come together, a sense of mental and physical wellbeing is fostered. Working closely with the City Council the community centre has evolved into a flexible space for residents at Eddington and the wider Cambridge public to enjoy and make their own. The range of events that are already in the calendar for the year ahead highlight how the centre will become a fundamental part of the cultural offering in Cambridge.”
Richard Brown, Storey’s Field Centre Manager, commented: “The Storey’s Field Centre provides a space for Eddington residents and the wider community to meet and interact. The building has been designed to cater for a whole range of events from regular sessions for babies and toddlers to recitals and concerts. The Centre is also proving a popular venue for parties, weddings and conferences with the first weddings taking place this spring. We are really excited about the year ahead and are certain it will become a popular performance and community space within Cambridge.”
The Storey’s Field Centre is adjacent to the various public landscape spaces and the local centre, purposefully positioned to be highly visible to the public, welcoming and accessible. Each room within the Centre benefits from views out to the surrounding landscapes and the single storey reflects the traditional civic buildings of churches and town halls. Eddington has been designed to high levels of sustainability and the Centre also adheres to these principles. Designed to BREEAM Outstanding level, the building is dual aspect providing natural cross ventilation, connected to the site wide district heating network and the roof incorporates photovoltaic panels.
The building designed by MUMA incorporates both the Storey’s Field Centre and Nursery. It was shortlisted for the RIBA East 2018 awards which were announced in March 2018.
