We have set up a team of volunteers from the village to work on developing the new hall - the Frilsham Clubroom Development Team. Our current members are (in alphabetical order):
Ann Wheeler
Bob Lyon
Davy Turnbull
James Cooper
Jules de Jongh
Sandra Wilkinson
Sarah Hop de Chillaz
Shirley Lyon
We aim to replace the current hall with a new build.
The current hall was originally built in 1956 to a very basic standard, limited by the funds the village could raise at the time. It was adequate for the village needs then, and has been refurbished in minor ways on occasions, but is far from fit for purpose nowadays. It has had changing rooms attached to the end of the hall which are mostly used by local football teams and occasionally by local running clubs.
The idea for developing the hall began in our Frilsham Parish Plan as endorsed by West Berkshire Council and has been augmented over the years by various consultations and discussions, mainly with organisers and users of the hall, but also with the wider community.
These are the current issues for organisers of activities in the hall, other users of the hall, and for those cleaning, maintaining and generally running the hall.
- Storage – this is the top priority. Currently much is stored in the hall itself, in the two cloakrooms and in peoples’ homes. The latter in particular is unsustainable.
- Insulation – currently this is almost non-existent. Heat is rapidly lost through the roof, walls, and doors. The roof, for example, cannot be insulated easily because of its construction. The only solution is replacing the roof. With the high and increasing cost of electricity, this is a high priority.
- Heating – currently inadequate. Only the hall is heated to above freezing. Hirers complain that the hall is too cold in the winter. With the high and increasing cost of electricity, this is a high priority.
- Energy – not currently eco-friendly. We anticipate installing an air source heat pump, solar panels and battery storage. We would also provide electric vehicle charging.
- Toilets – currently woefully below today’s standards. They are inadequate and primitive. Another priority.
- Disabled facilities – currently there are none. At one time there was space to access the toilets in a wheelchair, albeit lacking user dignity, but storage has impinged on that space.
- Kitchen – an accident waiting to happen. It is too small to accommodate more than two people safely and is lacking in space for appliances and storage. It was originally built to serve tea and biscuits. It is now used to serve full three course meals to many diners.
- Hall width – this is too narrow to fit across two seated tables which reduces the capacity, flexibility and practical use of the hall.
- Separate smaller room – this would be used for children’s parties, where the food is laid out in the smaller room while the entertainment, in whatever form, makes use of the main hall. This has been a specific request and a reason for potential users from the village going elsewhere. It could also be used for small meetings not needing the whole hall and would therefore reduce energy usage.
- Main hall opening out to the playground – this has been mentioned by a number of users as a specific improvement.
- Baby changing table – this has been a specific request. Currently babies are changed on top of a cupboard in the cloakroom, having removed the recycling crates.
- External storage – this would be used for the plastic chairs that are used outside (such use of the upholstered chairs is discouraged because they are not easily cleaned). It would also be used to store the traffic cones which currently are in a cloakroom, and various maintenance items, currently stored in peoples’ homes.
- Sound reduction – this has been a specific request to eliminate echoes and, by reducing reflected sound, helps the hard of hearing. Additionally for the hard of hearing, a hearing loop is proposed, which is required by the Equality Act 2010, where it can be reasonably provided.
- Car park resurfacing – the current surface is acceptable, but it’s unlikely to be so following significant building work. The proposal is to have the car park properly graded and resurfaced. This aspect may be deferred and run as a separate project later.
The original idea was to extend and refurbish the current hall. We engaged an architect who produced drawings which were shared with the community and interested parties at two public meetings. An associated questionnaire resulted in a 94% approval of the plans. There was one significant comment: why not consider a complete rebuild?
We produced a proposal based on the earlier architect plans with minor amendments and shared this with the community and interested parties at two further public meetings. An associated questionnaire resulted in 83% in favour of a complete rebuild and 13% in favour of the extend and refurbish option. We were now leaning towards a complete rebuild.
We commissioned an independent audit of the current hall, covering Environmental (inside and outside), Energy, Digital, Accessibility, and Sustainability. The report reinforced our rebuild proposal.
We contracted an independent structural engineer survey. This indicated that significant underpinning would likely be required, due to the greater load of the walls and new roof, which would lead to increased cost and longer timescale. There was also the likelihood of unforeseen issues emerging as we progressed, further adding to the costs and timescales. We decided that a complete rebuild was definitely the way forward.
One point on a complete rebuild is that it would need to include the changing rooms as they are part of the building. (In the extend and refurbish proposal they would have remained untouched.) This is a positive as the current changing rooms are quite primitive and certainly not up to the Football Association standards. Also the external storage mentioned above would accommodate the mower and white lining equipment for the football pitch, plus space for goal posts and other ancillary equipment.
In addition a complete rebuild would provide further benefits: opportunities to achieve more, to a higher standard, unconstrained by existing structure, better use of available space, building guarantee, reduced ongoing maintenance in the short to medium term, a much improved asset for the community, for future generations in the decades to come.
Updates will appear here as we progress.