Hackney Marshes is best known as the London home of amateur Sunday League football. Stanton Williams was commissioned in 2008 to provide a new ‘Community Hub’ at the South Marsh, comprising new changing rooms, a café, and an education facility. They are housed in a welcoming, inclusive structure that recognises the special qualities of this place and connects with its wider setting, including the adjacent Olympic Park.
The Centre is embedded within the landscape, avoiding the ‘tabula rasa’ approach of many sports venues. Plugging a gap in the trees that surround the pitches, its massing minimises its impact on the site. The overall impression is one of horizontality, with changing rooms arranged in linear fashion at ground level............
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