Fortifying the community with the light of sport

A new sports centre in Cabra is a sturdy building accessible to sports andcommunity activities. Emma Cullinan reports

A new sports centre in Cabra is a sturdy building accessible to sports andcommunity activities. Emma Cullinan reports

If only the disaffected youth had somewhere to go. That's often the lament of those who want to steer "at risk" kids away from drugs and crime. And here's such a place - a new sports and youth centre in Pope John Paul II Park, Cabra, Dublin.

This is in the Taoiseach's constituency and while he may not have got the "Bertie bowl", less dramatic - but probably more accessible - sports, youth and community facilities are on the rise.

Dublin City Council, for instance, has recently overseen the building of five such facilities: in Marrowbone Lane; Donore Avenue; Finglas; Malahide Road and Cabra. They're designed to provide sports facilities, adult education and youth services.

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"We have pulled out all the stops to create attractive buildings in consultation with local communities," says Mary Hanlon, city community development officer with Dublin City Council.

Henchion-Reuter Architects was appointed to design the Cabra facility (as well as the centre in Donore Avenue, due to be completed soon). In talks with community groups, Martin Henchion found that people were nervous about attacks on the building - from flying footballs and sliotars, and vandalism.

The brief called for no windows on the side facing the road (which is down a driveway). "You can't take the call for no windows literally," says Mr Henchion, who has ensured that this bunker mentality hasn't led to the creation of a bunker.

Instead this building lightens as it rises, reaching to the sky for its natural light. The sports and youth centre stands firmly on a smooth concrete base, to the front and north-east side, then rises up to a layer of Iroko slats that clad the first floor, and is topped by a glass box that injects natural light into the building from above.

There is actually glazing on the "no-window" side, at the end of a first-floor corridor, and also in the overhang above the entrance, where timber louvres protect a large window, but to the south-west, where the building overlooks an all-weather pitch, there is glazing galore.

The pitch is encased in mesh which sweeps across the side of the building. This fence is apparently just part of the pitch but it also serves to protect the glass wall. This mesh has been cleverly incorporated into the design, as a protective screen at the edge of an outdoor walkway.

Even within, this building combines an elegance, and a touch of fun, with robustness. It passes the kick test for a start. Every sheet of MDF cladding that will be subjected to idle foot swings has been painted grey, even the panel below a seat that has been incorporated into the gym wall.

I love these surprise resting points in buildings - somewhere unexpected to park and chat - although Mr Henchion says that clients are nervous about them because they don't have a sharply defined role. But the way in which buildings plan to control people and the way people actually use buildings often vary. Even the criteria for this project changed during the build. The ground floor was originally going to be for sports and the first floor for supervised youth activities - but a job lot of running machines was offered at a very good price, so these have been given a home on the first floor overlooking the entrance.

Although the building was finished a few months ago, it's still not being used and there are questions over who will benefit from the building and when. As well as providing crucial local services, it's planned that this centre can offer its facilities to a wider public in order to earn its keep.

These will be used on a pay-per-visit basis. So there'll be no having to pay thousands of euro to join a sports club for a year. Sod's law states that initial enthusiasm will last for three months and then you will have a lull until a few days before the annual membership is up. A pay-as-you-play scheme gets over such ebbing and flowing of sporty enthusiasm.

There are even rumours that the FAI will become a core tenant in this scheme, bringing welcome fees, but the main funding for the building came from the Young People's Facilities and Services Fund. Its remit is to give certain areas a boost in terms of community facilities, so the building needs to meet its aims. On offer is a multi-media room, dance studio, martial arts studio and canteen, plus the huge gym on the ground floor.

Every room in this building - bar the changing rooms - has glass in the walls so that people can look in and out, and natural light can flow through. Bringing natural light into the gym had to be carefully thought through because someone with their eye on the ball doesn't want to follow it across a wall and then into the glare of a window.

The incoming light is angled so that no-one will ever get direct sun in their eyes. Mr Henchion now wonders about the success of the first-floor gallery overlooking the gym: when people move about it creates shadows that could distract players, he says. But it's a small price to pay for enabling interaction between internal spaces.

The bare blockwork internal walls are not something I'd like to spend my days with, but perhaps they're justified as robust support systems for the lighter elements around them. In any case, this isn't just standard blockwork, the architect chose a type of blockwork that is lighter than the normal drab grey.

Such attention to internal specification extends to the stainless steel handrails which are thinner than standard, to be more ergonomic and elegant. And, as in so many cases, you pay more for less. It's not the material that costs, it's the style and rarity.

Other nice touches include the expressive graphics on doors plates: huge numerals, sturdy men and women pictured on toilet doors, and chunky arrows, all in black against brushed stainless steel plates.

The doors themselves are in various colours, as are the laminated panels hanging above the upstairs corridor. "We had a lot of worries over the colours," says Mr Henchion. But once they'd chosen their hues they didn't play safe. "They were brave colours and the laminate gives them an intensity. One colour was called cerise," he says, still incredulous that such a berry tint should work. But it does, it gives the corridor a happy, fairground feel.

This is a building of contrasts: a mix of sturdiness and lightness. The changing rooms have blockwork walls and an epoxy floor, usually used in factories and designed to take forklift trucks. This industrial feel extends to other parts of the building: I'm warned not to look at the finishes and certain details too closely, as some joints could have been finished more neatly. But stand back and it comes together as an impressive whole.

For an architect who was asked to design a fortress, Mr Henchion has responded with a building that feels welcoming. Acting sports manger Treacy Byrne thinks "it is brilliant. I love the colours."

This is a space that needs to appeal to those who use it. And, while having fulfilled his brief to protect the building, Mr Henchion has sought to safeguard its users too. The overhang above the front entrance, for instance, forms a comfort zone between inside and out. Recently a football match was held here, when the building was closed.

Mr Henchion drove by and saw around 200 onlookers huddled beneath this overhang. Its purpose was to protect from the weather and he was thrilled to see that happening on an unexpected scale. That makes him wary about calls to cordon this area off with more mesh. If those who use this building take ownership of it, there should be no need for more fortification.