Proposal for a village hub that contained a multi-purpose hall with practice rooms and bleacher seating, clubhouse, restaurant and cricket pavilion. Our starting point was to interrogate the workings of the whole village to reveal its centre of gravity and to test whether redevelopment could in some way benefit the life of the greater village. Like so many villages, Wadhurst concentrated its activities along a high street that petered off at either end. The demolition of the Hall gave access to a large site at the centre of the high street that dropped down to a cricket pitch beyond that the charity also owned. Its removal opened views of the spectacular rolling Weald.
We proposed a secondary axis that led from the St Peter and St Paul Church in the north to the cricket pitch in the south. This was entirely pedestrianised save for the short hop across the high street. The site of the Memorial Hall was left open as a small square where moveable stalls could be deployed on market day. The steep change in level was bridged over to accommodate a lower-level medical suite that was lit from a side garden and reachable by car from a lower-level access road. Three new retail buildings lined the square and led to a new stepped Memorial garden that acted as amphitheatre for the village cricket pitch where large events took place throughout the year.
The replacement cultural centre edged the new Memorial gardens and was flanked by new tennis courts that decked over the large car park. A new restaurant was perched over the cricket pitch and enjoyed long views over the Weald. We anticipated weddings and events starting at the church and making their way along the new pedestrian route with receptions held at the new restaurant. The replacement of a single strategically located building gave the town a new centre for public life at the heart of its high street.
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