Mill Road Community Centre, Cambridge

The new community centre at ‘The Ironworks’ development is home to the Romsey Mill Trust and Petersfield Area Community Trust. Located at the southern entrance of the wider development the centre serves as a shared venue for existing and new residents to come together and establish stronger community connections.

Mill Road Community Centre - Zinc roof, glazed facade, man cycling, Gate House, former Cambridge library, traditional red brick facade

Rock Townsend undertook the Stage 4 design, developing the detail ready for construction including extensive liaising with and integrating of the acousticians design and specification for the noise attenuation to protect neighbouring residents whilst ensuring the halls and spaces worked acoustically for the various functions and events being hosted.

Comprising two vaulted hall spaces that open up to a single flexible space, the Centre has an operating capacity of 190 people and comprises a 130 SqM main hall with sprung floor for sports and community events, a smaller 30 SqM meeting room, one-to-one meeting rooms, office space, fully equipped kitchen, accessible toilets and changing facilities, and courtyard community gardens.

The community garden is a place to escape to, a place where you can either sit and enjoy the work of others or participate in the upkeep of the place. Footpaths weave through the beds and lawn areas and benches have been placed to allow the community to sit and enjoy the tranquility of the space.

Continuing the theme of the community gardens, the landscape spills out beyond the community garden. Eagle Street is lined on one side with a landscaped public open space incorporating raised beds, seating, and public art by Tom Pearman and Jo Chapman. And to the north of the site Eagle Park combines play area, ecology rich planting and the rain garden.

The rain garden is an integral part of the Sustainable Urban Drainage systems (SUDs) within the site that serve to attenuate and filter the surface water and reducing pressure on surrounding infrastructure. The benefits are two-fold, reduced flooding and an opportunity for a more diverse landscape for the wildlife.

The community centre’s energy performance was mandated to be Excellent. In part this was in response to Cambridge City Council’s own Climate Emergency Declaration in 2019, but it is also to ensure the building is sustainable and affordable to run for the long term. The centre achieved BREEAM Excellent - performing to the top 10% of UK non-domestic buildings.

Opened at the end of 2022 the centre is operated by a partnership of Romsey Mill Trust and Petersfield Area Community Trust (PACT) with numerous groups, classes and events already well established.

“The new community centre will be a welcoming, inclusive environment for all local people to access important services, and to enjoy community activities and events. We’re really happy that the new Mill Road Community Centre has been designed in consultation with residents and will give access to a new facility which will meet their needs when it opens in a few months’ time.””
— Cllr Alex Collis, Executive Councillor for Open Spaces, Food Justice and Community Development.