Swiss Cottage, London
1999-2005

Swiss Cottage is an existing urban village, which together with Highgate, Hampstead, Chalk Farm, Camden and Kilburn form inner north-west London. Terry Farrell and Partners are part of a Public Private Finance initiative to create a new cultural heart that realises the original concept for a civic-cultural centre at Swiss Cottage.

The masterplan allocates the many user groups cleverly and efficiently over the site into meaningful adjacencies with well-formed open spaces. It comprises a landscaped civic space, social and welfare amenities including a new community centre, doctor's surgery, café, crèche, innovative social housing, private apartments and a state-of-the-art leisure centre.

The leisure centre plan is arranged to allow a significant proportion of its mass to be housed below ground floor areas. The lower ground area, contains the sports hall, changing rooms and the swimming pools. Using a natural form of spectator seating, the large glass facade is completely glazed to let passers by enjoy and connect with the activities of the pool and the gym beyond. The compact planning of the leisure centre's overall height remains comparable to the adjoining library. The entrance facade and link are light, transparent expressions of steel and glass, signalling a welcome entrance to both the leisure centre and library.

The new centre will have four lively facades. The main Adelaide Road facade is dominated by a climbing wall - with all the colour and paraphernalia that goes with the sport. The climbing wall will act as a theatre stage to the seating area provided in open space directly in front. The theatrics of the climbing wall will create a striking night display, with a show of colour, changing floodlights, fluorescent lights, UV cannon lights on fluorescent painted climbing walls and LED lights embedded in the climbing surface.

Terry Farrell and Partners' designs will provide much improved facilities to the community centre, including a café terrace towards the park, a multi-purpose hall, meeting rooms and crèche. There is affordable housing above the leisure centre, pool and sports hall and from this position, the tenants have panoramic views over London or the new open spaces.

Throughout the scheme open spaces create new routes. Reinforcing the site's permeability, they create improved physical and visual links around the centre and surrounding area. The redevelopment is a good example of architecture growing from urban design; with its outdoor market, local offices and the close proximity of public transport, the scheme will establish a vibrant cultural heart in the new urban quarter.