JW3 (Jewish Community Centre) London

JW3 (Jewish Community Centre) London

Sector:
Residential, Leisure
System:
Proteus HR, Proteus SC
Architect:
Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands

Burnished brass panels by Proteus clad a £12million new community centre “without walls” that has become the beating heart of London’s Jewish population.

Proteus HR panels in artisan burnished TECU brass form a solid rainscreen base to the lower ground floor of the RIBA award-winning 35,000ft2 building while perforated single-skin Proteus SC panels, installed outside full-length glazing, screen elements of the first and second floors.

Ten years in the making, the project was the brainchild of Dame Vivien Duffield after she toured several Jewish Community Centres in America and was inspired by their values, in particular their principle of inclusivity, and by the quality of the facilities and programming they offered.

She set about laying the foundations for a “Jewish Community Centre without walls” in London, initially in borrowed venues, and then eventually in its own purpose-built BREEAM rated “Excellent” building in Hampstead.

Beautiful, functional and state-of-the-art, this building consciously seeks to foster community and inspire creativity through its design and its very fabric – the Proteus cladding, over brick and cast stone.

To support its ambitious programming, the building features diverse facilities arranged hierarchically over four storeys, with the most public at ground level, spilling out onto a piazza which hosts food markets and outdoor cinema as well as ice-skating during the winter.

Designed to be a place of action, of creation and output rather than consumption of culture, robust, quality materials were chosen to support the various activities.

The heart of the building is Zest, JW3’s restaurant, bar and café run by award-winning Ottolenghi-trained chefs. This is complemented by a multi-purpose hall with retractable bleacher seating and semi-sprung floor, 60-seat boutique cinema, demonstration kitchen, dance studios, crèche, meeting rooms and classrooms.

Vertical Proteus HR and SC panels also help to break up the brick street-facing façade on a nine-storey residential tower that houses 14 two-bedroomed apartments and an office level, the sale of the apartments helping to fund the community centre.

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  • Brass Cladding