Multi Resource Centre for inspire

inspire is an award winning registered charity that aims to improve the quality of life for people with learning disabilities in North East Scotland. The charity approached Space Solutions to tender for developing a design for a 12,500sq ft purpose built multi-resource centre on a brown field industrial site to the east of the city centre.

The brief provided for a fascinating project which had to fulfil a number of very specific needs. The objective was to achieve integration between service users of the charity and the general public in a comfortable, non-threatening, fully accessible and attractive environment. This was achieved in a stimulating, non-institutional manner.

The accommodation is arranged over 3 floors; on the ground floor a public restaurant with double training kitchen, a suite of enabling spaces (quiet areas where clients can be assisted on a one to one basis with training, problem solving, interviews etc), and a multi-use recreational and conference space; the first floor offers meeting and conference space for corporate and private booking, as well as a third party office rental space; the top floor provides for Inspires own office accommodation.

In developing the design, a spectrum of specialist needs were considered, and these informed every aspect from spatial design and layout, through colour use, consideration of ‘patterning’, effects of lighting techniques on conditions, and also a range of occupational therapy requirements.

Materials used include natural stone (contained in gabion structures around the ground floor) and natural untreated timber around entrance areas and at the upper floor level. These have been combined with a high performance insulated metal cladding system and integrated glazing system. All exposed steelwork is either a galvanised finish, as used on the brise soliel devices, or austenitic stainless steel, as used on the balustrades in recognition of the marine environment.