Dursley Youth Centre

Conversion of the Manse of Dursley Tabernacle Church into a Youth Centre for young people in Dursley.

The Manse for the Tabernacle Church occupied the entire ground floor and the front part of the upper floors. The rear portion of the upper floors is the Church Hall and parish rooms which is the home of a local Dramatic Society. The lack of sound insulation between hall and kitchen in the Manse meant that life was very difficult for the family in occupation!

Dursley Town Council were looking for a home for their Youth Centre and opportunity to rehouse the family created a space for the Youth Centre which could also be used by the church on Sundays, and so a joint project was created by the Tabernacle Church and Town Council.

We won the architectural commission following a stiff competitive selection process which included running a design workshop with the young people who would be using the Youth Centre, and part of the challenge of the project was to bring together the sometimes conflicting requirements of Church, Youth, Youth Workers and Town Council!

The scheme involved sensitive discussions with the planners as the scheme included the creation of a ramped access in the front garden to make the building accessible.