Whalley Range A F C - Ian Brewerton Architecture
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Whalley Range A F C
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Whalley Range Amateur Football Club is one of the oldest football clubs in Manchester.
The clubhouse is not as old as the club, but it has reached the end of its working life - a club official commented that in winter the changing rooms were colder than the pitch ! Better facilities were urgently needed and I was commissioned to prepare a design to meet current FA standards.
The design provided:
separate changing rooms for match officials
a first-aid room (for forceful tackles ...)
a club shop and snack bar (for spectators)
a bar and lounge
a balcony overlooking the main pitch
a fully equipped kitchen
an administration office / meeting room
Environmentally friendly materials and systems were to be used, including;
steel roof and first floor cladding (which can be 100% re-cycled at the end of its life)
steel frame (can also be re-cycled)
timber windows and doors (carbon neutral) with water-based environmentally friendly paints (no PVC)
infiltration drainage to the car parking areas - this helps to prevent overloading drainage which has led to flooding during the last two years
rainwater harvesting for toilet flushing, grounds maintenance etc.
if practicable, solar water heating
massive insulation, reducing heating costs and carbon emissions
The scheme gained Planning Approval, along with a separate scheme for pitch floodlighting - but promised funding was withdrawn and the project could not be constructed.