Darwin Hall

Lichfield

Darwin Hall is a community centre for the local residents of the Darwin Park and Chester Road Estates. It was funded through Section 106 monies from the developers of the surrounding housing estates. Located at the end of Cathedral Walk, a landscaped avenue providing one of the best views of Lichfield Cathedral within the area, Darwin Hall was sensitively designed to integrate with the landscaping and reinforce the vista of the cathedral. The community centre is in close proximity to residential properties (20m) and therefore it was essential that it had a positive relationship to the houses through careful and creative massing, form and scale whilst maintaining a clear architectural language of being a public building. Darwin Hall also proves that through considered design and on a reasonable budget, it is possible to achieve an environmentally friendly and energy efficient building. The community centre incorporates the following technologies:

- Ground Source Heat Pump (50% grant funded)
- Natural ventilation
- Biodisc for on site treatment of foul drainage
- Heat Recovery units

(photographs courtesy of Weinerberger)