Year | 2016
Location | Ingle Gym, Wincobank, Sheffield
Client | Andy Nice, Trustee of the Brendan Ingle Foundation; Ingle Gym
The Ingle Gym in Wincobank, north-east Sheffield, is renowned for training some of boxing’s all time greats, with World and Olympic champions to their name. On top of this, the gym is an integral and well respected part of the Wincobank Community with Brendan Ingle – the founder of the gym – a much loved figure in the neighbourhood.
Despite this, the current gym facilities do not match the prestige of the organisation and its important role in teaching young men and women in the arts of self-discipline, self-respect and respect for others.
The Live Project team was tasked with evaluating the existing building and providing potential strategies for expanding its capacity and the range of functions that it could offer. As such, the Live Project Team carried out a feasibility study, assembling a “shopping list” of possible interventions and additions to the building. These architectural alterations ranged from “featherweight” to “heavyweight”, providing the Client with different options according to cost, timescale and perceived demand. The designs encompassed the surrounding landscape, suggesting play facilities and community space. This feasibility report, along with models and a measured survey have been provided to the Client to form a briefing process once an architect is appointed for detailed design, and to help carry the design into the planning stage.
In parallel to this, consultation and participation events were held at the gym to engage with the wider community, providing evidence of demand for an increased range of functions and establishing a broader network of contacts which the Ingle Gym management can utilise to host a greater range of classes and activities. The immediate legacy of the Live Project is the clearing of the land behind the gym through a community gardening session, improving visibility and access.
The Ingle Gym Live Project Team looks forward to seeing our ideas for Wincobank carried forward into the future.
