The West Reservoir Centre
Hackney, London

The West and East Reservoirs were created in the 1830s using stone from the recently demolished London Bridge, in response to the cholera epidemic. The pump house, built in the 1930s to help improve water filtering and distribution, was repurposed in 2002 as part of a new water sports centre that, since the open water swimming increase during the pandemic, is no longer fit for purpose.

In September 2022, after LBH and building manager Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL) had secured funding from private developers and the Mayor of London’s Green and Resilient Space Fund, our practice won a bid to act as subconsultants to national multidisciplinary lead Pick Everard in working directly with key stakeholder GLL.

During design development extensive consultation took place with open water swimmers, sailing and boat club, users of the community events space, local residents, schools and prospective users, which resulted in positive contributions to the layout, leading to planning being granted in May 2024.

The design responds the new numbers improving entrance arrangements and efficiently simplifying the existing centre's internal plan layouts. The new outdoor changing area will be clad in black weatherboarding blending with its surroundings. The lightweight, natural timber structure of the café will have calm, understated interiors with transparent, uninterrupted views of the water and landscape.

Sustainably and biodiversity net gain are at the core of our design. A renewable energy source in the form of a water source heat pump (WSHP) has been installed for the building and will help power the new facilities. BREEAM Excellent standards are being used as a benchmark.