Keynsham
Civic Centre
AHR
Archetech - Issue 20 [Page 104]
The new development has replaced 1960s buildings to
provide 68,000sqft council offices, a library and one-stop shop,
20,000sqft retail, two new pedestrian streets, a market square,
car parking and highways improvements.
AHR responded to the challenge of the constrained and sloping
town centre site creating two new pedestrian streets and a
cluster of inter-locking buildings. This allowed over 50% of the
site to be given over to new public realm and better integrated
the development into the existing urban grain. Careful
orientation of the buildings and an innovative acoustic louvre
window system allowed full natural ventilation to be used
throughout, despite the location within a busy town centre.
At the heart of the brief was Bath & North East Somerset
Council’s objective of creating a highly efficient, robust and
flexible building that would minimise energy consumption and
maintenance while providing first class civic facilities and a high
quality workplace embodying a ‘one council’ culture.