Earnse Bay Outdoor Centre, Walney Island

In 2019 the UK Government announced The Town Deal, aimed at boosting urban regeneration, green transport infrastructure, tourism, education and jobs. The £3.6 billion Town Deal invited 101 towns in England to bid for a share of funding.

Earnse Bay Outdoor Centre was one of seven projects submitted by Barrow Borough Council following extensive public consultation of initial concept designs developed with Cumbria County Council. In 2022, Brilliant Barrow was successful in securing the maximum £25 million from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

The Royal Horticultural Society ranked Barrow-in-Furness first in England for the number and quality of its natural landscape and assets, but 162nd for how its communities use their landscape. The aim of this project was to deliver access to outdoor activities and skills development through an Outdoor Centre at Earnse Bay, on Walney Island, and encourage community recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic, supporting community resilience at a grassroots level for some of Barrow’s most vulnerable residents.

The project was conceived as an edifice emerging from the landscape, facing the sea to the west; forming a protective barrier to the activities to the leeward side. This form was then split into two halves – one for Cumbria County Council and one for Natural England, mirroring one another offering complimentary functions under a unifying roof.

Beyond the building is a park established on a former sports ground, providing educational, sporting, and leisure use primarily for the people of the Furness Peninsula.

Natural England envisage a building used by everyone from nursery children to visiting PhD students in indoor and outdoor classrooms, and a dunescape garden that will develop over time.

The landscape as a whole is seen as a work in progress. Already colonised by scrub and being succeeded by new plants, the aim was to leave these areas alone and encourage their spread over the site around the formal uses.

As well as a full size rounders pitch, various gardens will be set out along a perimeter walking route. There will be a Labyrinth formed of hedges; a Contemplative Garden with willow structures; a Quiet Garden surrounded by high kest banks; a Community Growing Garden, utilising the existing sports changing rooms as a potting shed; sculpture gardens; and camping fields, and five glamping pods made from found and recycled material with grass roofs.

A highly insulated, fabric first approach was taken to the design of the building, with heating and hot water provided by ground source heat pump and over 200 roof mounted solar panels.
Lead Architect and Project Management:

Align Property Partners

Landscape Design:

Westwood Landscapes

Planning Consultant:

WSP

Transport Consultant:

WSP

Civil Engineers:

Align Property Partners

Ecology:

Rigby Jerram Ecological Consultants

Visualisation:

Caravan Images