South Park is the largest park in Macclesfield. It celebrated its centenary in 2022 after it was gifted to the people of Macclesfield by local Alderman William Frost. It has been a vital green space for residents ever since The Park is a true asset for our town, and one that we have an opportunity to improve for our residents, our community and to attract visitors from near and far. Local residents have campaigned for a pavilion building in South Park for the past 20 years. Several in-depth consultations have been carried out with the community group SPARK (The Friends of South Park Group) and the Town Council as well as a recent round of face- to-face consultations held in August 2022.

The current pavilion is deemed not fit for purpose and in part condemned (the upstairs) due to its lack of accessibility to the first floor and its poor state of repair. The ground floor layout is not flexible for multiple user groups and the building’s construction method means the building is reaching the end of its lifespan and cannot be modernised. The lack of a pavilion for a park of this scale fails to meet the needs of visitors to the park and also fails to provide opportunity for the park to be of greater value to the community and engage with park users.

In short, to provide a new pavilion building in the park. Macclesfield Town Council are asset transferring the building from the local authority and want to demolish it and build a fully accessible and environmentally friendly building, available and open to all the community. A building that meets the needs, expectations and ambitions of the community, the park services as well as encouraging visitors to the park. Through project forming and evaluation, a building that is flexible and sustainable and that can provide for the community well into the future.

In early 2022, Bower Mattin and Young were hired as architects and were tasked with creating different designs to take to the public for consultation so in August 2022, we held 4 public consultations, in the park and in the town centre. Over 750 detailed written responses were received. Our residents wish us to proceed with the project and identified two of the five designs that were presented to them. We have merged these two to provide a two storey building with a number of the design features that were most valued.

• The proposed scheme is for a two storey, environmentally sensitive pavilion designed to provide a wide range of flexible spaces suitable for family gatherings, fitness, dance and regular cultural events.
• The ground floor consists of a large café area with chill out spaces housing local art exhibits and magazines. It will lead to a canopied outdoor terrace with seating overlooking the bandstand.
• There are also two large multi-purpose rooms which can provide a space for people to gather. The first floor overlooks the park and tennis courts. It will provide an event space for exhibitions, music, comedy nights and large family celebrations of up to 100 people. The building will provide an information point for future events in the park and local area, together with a first aid post including a defibrillator.
• There will be a Changing Places toilet with baby changing for all park users.
• It is intended that the new building will reuse the existing pavilion slab and foundations. It will be super insulated and
  incorporate a turf/sedum roof to create a high thermal mass which will also assist water attenuation.
• Passive solar gain combined with a heat recovery and recirculation ventilation system and air source heat pumps will be
  at the core of the renewable energy proposals.
• Local stone and timber will be used in construction which will feature green walls as a part of the target to control the carbon
  footprint.

For more information on the project visit: https://www.macclesfield-tc.gov.uk/south-park-pavilion-consultation/

(Article including images courtesy of Macclesfield Town Council)