Howlands, Dewsbury

Transformational Refurbishment Of Community Building

The Howlands Centre is a charitable community building on School Street, Dewsbury, aimed to promote the varied abilities of their local community and the welfare of adults with physical and mental disabilities through art based activities, run by the members for the members, with the help of voluntary workers and paid staff.

Based in a former Victorian school building, that was originally a church, the historic building fabric required substantial renovation, improvements, and remedial works to make it fit-for-purpose and able to support the whole community with an ambitious relaunch of the Centre.

With the help of Architecture 1b and Big Lottery grant, along with the support of other community groups donations and fund raising activities, the Centre was able to undergo a transformational refurbishment and modernisation, providing adaptable and flexible spaces for hire with new room dividers, including new meeting, conference, and training rooms. The renovation works preserved the integrity of historic building, preserving interesting architectural features, and exposing long-hidden features such as the vaulted ceiling and arched supporting structure, while creating a modern and refreshing interior.

In addition to the cosmetic enhancements, there were extensive improvements to the efficiency of the building, with the installation of new facilities such as air conditioning, central heating, double glazing and insulation behind the new wall panels.