YMCA Community Hub Shortlisted for AJ Retrofit Award

The recently complected YMCA Norfolk Community Hub in Norwich has been shortlisted in the Health and Community category at the 2022 AJ Retrofit Awards.

Jubilee Hall on Aylsham Road, Norwich, was once used by the Royal British Legion but closed its doors in 2014. It has since been taken over by YMCA Norfolk, who commissioned LSI Architects in 2018 to begin a project that would breathe new life into the building as a hub for the local community.

The newly refurbished centre offers a range of services with a particular focus on families, including a day care nursery, café and soft play centre.

Ran by the Architects’ Journal, the AJ Retrofit Awards celebrate the design expertise behind the renewal and repurposing of existing buildings, with a focus on reducing the industry’s carbon footprint.

The project has breathed new life into a real community asset which was otherwise in a very poor condition and so this scheme has removed the possibility of the buildings demolition as well as providing the YMCA with space in which to provide services to the local community, so that they can support young families and give young people a better start, and then reinvest using the income generated from said services.

The awards ceremony takes place on 24^th February 2022.