The Fullarton Community Hub, designed by City Architecture Office (CiAO), is a bold and exciting
new facility. The hub aims to enhance community activities and improve key services in the Irvine
neighbourhood.
The completed, state of the art building houses an array of flexible spaces including; an
employability hub, a designated youth club space, a training kitchen, community cafe, multipurpose
hall, community garden, games area and office space. It also has doctors consulting
rooms allowing local people to attend health appointments within walking distance of where they
live.
Since opening, the hub is operating at capacity, hosting regular activities, clubs and functions every
day of the week, for the benefit of the 3,200 residents of the Fullarton and Harbourside area of
Irvine. Donna Fitzpatrick, chair of Fullarton Community Association, said: “I’m so proud of this new
facility, It is fantastic. The new Hub will be a lifeline to our community, and together with the new
MUGA and community garden, it will allow young and elderly alike to come together on many joint
ventures for the future.”
The project has been a culmination of five years of hard work- the journey beginning when the
community association appointed CiAO to carry out a feasibility options study for the provision of
facilities.
The Design team at City Architecture Office, has worked tirelessly throughout the entire project to
ensure that the ambitious plans of the community and their vision for the future was realised.
The building is orientated to benefit from high levels of natural light and solar gain, with optimal
roof mounted renewable technologies. An external covered public ‘gathering’ area draws visitors
towards the entrance and creates a positive addition to the urban fabric of the street.
This identified that it was more viable to replace the existing huts, than try to refurbish the existing
buildings. Following this, the client gained ownership of the land through an ambitious asset
transfer in 2013 and City Architecture Office developed proposals and gained planning approval for
a new Hub, in August 2014.
The local community was closely involved throughout the whole design process and extended the
scope of the project to encompass a new MUGA and a community Garden.
These have been created on former derelict council land, acquired via a further land transfer. Local
MSP Ruth Magurie, who cut the ribbon on the opening night, said, “folk in Fullarton now have the
great building and space they deserve and I look forward to seeing the community go from strength
to strength.”
· The innovative project was driven by Fullarton Community Association and delivered in
partnership with North Ayrshire Council and Irvine Bay Regeneration Company. The 1.8million community hub was funded by the Big Lottery in conjunction with Irvine Bay
Regeneration Company, North Ayrshire Council and other partners.
· Patrick Wiggins, chief executive of Irvine Bay Regeneration Company, said: “It recognises
the aspirations of local people and signifies our support for communities to deliver local
regeneration as part of our legacy.
· The Fullarton area in Irvine, North Ayrshire, has higher-than-average levels of deprivation
and some of the lowest life expectancy rates in Scotland. Fullarton community hub aims to
act as a catalyst in the regeneration of the area and provide the community with high
quality health and wellbeing facilities. All those involved in the planning, design and
construction process truly embraced the challenge and the completion of the hub marks an
important step towards an exciting future for the community.
· MSP Ruth Magurie sums up, “folk in Fullarton now have the great building and space they
deserve, I look forward to seeing the community go from strength to strength.”
· The project was funded through a £1,127,389million award from the Big Lottery, and a
further £650,000 from Irvine Bay Urban Regeneration Company while North Ayrshire
Council, The Robertson Trust and other partners are providing community development
support as well as financial backing towards the overall £1.8million cost.
· Moray Royles, Director City Architecture Office , ‘We designed the Hub to be a prominent
and optimistic presence in the community and we are already hugely encouraged by the
positive impact the Hub.is making. We overcame many obstacles to take the building from
concept to completion, something we are very proud of.”
