KENSINGTON COMMUNITY CENTRE

The Kensington Community Centre is located on a site originally occupied by the Kensington Bowling Club on the eastern edge of Kensington Park. The clubhouse and greens were built on Crown land in 1928. When the Club ceased to operate in 2013, the building and surrounds were passed back to the control of Randwick City Council. Following extensive community consultation, Council decided that the building be transformed into a Community Centre containing two separate halls, associated amenities and a range of external spaces.

The clubhouse presents as a low-slung face brick building with a hipped tiled roof structure. Over the years the building underwent a number of alterations and additions. The main architectural concept of the proposed works is to remove these additions and to reveal the original roof structure and massing of the building.

The central section of the building, which originally contained the open plan area of the bowling club, has been converted into two separate community halls. Amenities for each of the halls are located within the more subordinate spaces on the eastern and western ends of the building.

The Main hall is orientated in an east west direction, with a long elevation facing north. The hall opens out to an external covered space, which then connects directly to new landscaped area to the north. A new steel canopy provides shelter to this external space, which acts as a forecourt between the building and the park. The contemporary clean nature of the canopy design sits in contrast to the textural materials and hipped roof of the original building. Amenities and services areas associated with the main hall are located on the eastern end of the building.

The second hall is located at the western end of the building and has been orientated to address the park. A scaled-down version of the northern canopy is a transitional space between the hall and the park. Amenities for this hall are located in the original section of the building to the west. The amenities bookend both halls.