Little Hulton’s Peel Park Pavilion opened its doors on Saturday (22/02) with a blazing community celebration.
The brand-new centre, which finished construction last month, boasts a vibrant new community space with a park café, offices and meeting rooms.
The impressive £950k project, designed by Architecture Unknown, was built using a zero-carbon, modular design system called WikiHouse – making it one of the greenest buildings in Salford.
The grand opening this weekend, was opened by traditional Chinese lion dance and attended by the Salford City Council Mayor Paul Dennett. Guests also enjoyed performances from local bands, dancers and choirs as part of the celebrations.
To mark the opening a golden buzzer was released by the young people from Little Hulton and after dusk the park was lit up by a fire animation by Walk the Plank.
Speaking of the grand opening, Francesca Ganz, local resident and CommUNITY Little Hulton Trustee said: "It was amazing, the community came together and everyone loved it.”
The redevelopment of the pavilion was generously funded by The Albert Gubay Charitable Foundation (AGCF) and is a major milestone in the revitalisation of the whole park.
Charlie Butterwick, Director of Architecture Unknown, said: “To see the doors open on this project is a huge achievement for all involved. Well over 1000 hours of donated sweat equity has gone into making this building, and tonight (Saturday) really celebrates that hard work and the start of a new chapter for the centre.
“For Architecture Unknown, The Peel Park Pavilion is truly the heart of what we do; community lead architecture that creates amazing, artistic spaces that will enrich an area for many years to come. We are proud to see the doors finally open to the public.”
The Pavillion is a WikiHouse design. WikiHouse is often described as the IKEA of construction, offering the opportunity for anyone to get in on the build… even the local kids.
In June 2024, around 60 children from the Lowry Academy and St Edmunds RC School were among the local volunteers who helped to get construction underway at the centre. Alongside the school children, more than 100 volunteers from the Little Hulton area have been down to lend a hand on the construction site.
Peter Heberlet from the The Albert Gubay Charitable Foundation (AGCF) added: “The design has given children and young people in the community a bigger stake in the building. From being involved in its construction to seeing the different roles of within the industry, we hope the project may have sparked an interest in the construction industry which needs to attract more skilled people in the future.”
Since Summer 2017, Community Little Hulton has been working across the area to invest in young lives, focusing on young adults who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) and children from deprived backgrounds.
Architecture Unknown first secured planning permission for the project in 2021. After being severely delayed by Covid-19, the team began construction in April of last year.
Speaking at the opening, Alison Jones, developments manager for Community Little Hulton, said: “Everyone is very excited about how this new building provides the community with an excellent facility to do even more great things.”
Architecture Unknown is a Manchester-based practise founded by Charlie Butterwick and Daniel Kelso. Projects include Meltham Community Hall and 2nd Whalley Range Scout Hut. Architects Charlie Butterwick and Daniel Kelso met at the University of Manchester founding their practice in 2018.