Springfield Park, Grade II Listed

Pringle Richards Sharratt Architects, supported by Dominic Cole Landscape Design, completed this Heritage Lottery Funded restoration of Springfield Park, which is a Grade II Listed green space in the London Borough of Hackney. The project included the complete restoration of the Grade II listed Springfield Park as well as its Grade II separately listed Mansion House, stables and walled garden. The former private house and gardens had been converted and opened as a public park in 1905 serving the local community since. Prior to the project, the house and stables were in a mostly derelict condition and on the Historic England "at risk" register. The park had also suffered from neglect and the lake largely silted up. The restored building now offers a much-improved and restored cafe with new enhanced public toilets and bespoke offices on the first floor for the LB Hackney's Parks Team. A permanent exhibition on the restored ground floor reception rooms allows the history of the park to be explained. A new lift was sensitively incorporated and entry arrangement to improve accessibility.

The new energy efficient buff brick annex to the house provided space for the cafe kitchen and toilets allowing these formerly intrusive elements to be removed from the heritage fabric. The formerly derelict Stables Block was sensitively refurbished to accommodate 4 separately lettable office spaces for the creative industry. As part of the overall regeneration project, a stunning new Community Events Building, the Glass House, sits within the restored walled Kitchen Garden. This wholly new EPC A Rated venue and events space with a capacity for 150 people is already much in demand for weddings, community activities, corporate away days and Jewish Celebrations such as Bat Mitzvahs. All this was achieved in association with a comprehensive set of improvements to the Park as a whole.

The project involved working closely with local voluntary support groups, the London Borough of Hackney, and various key local stakeholders including Historic England. Extensive consultation was carried out to determine the brief. The design has been generated in line with a detailed Conservation Plan as well as after the preparation of a detailed Specialist Heritage Significance study to align the restoration, interventions and proposals to enhance important historical features of the buildings and site.

Following a successful NLHF Round 2 in 2018, works started on site in 2019, with completion achieved in January 2021. The overall capital cost of the project was £4 Million. 

Mick Beanse, Senior Project Manager, Public Realm, Climate, Homes & Economy Directorate Hackney Council, said: 

"The Heritage Funded Springfield Park project has been a great success for Hackney Council and has exceeded expectations in many ways. It has improved the public realm and secured an income stream for the park that will help maintain the quality of this important heritage asset for the 21st Century. As a community-based project, we are really excited how well the various areas such as the park itself, the new Glass House, the restored artistic work units in the Stables and the Cafe are already being extensively used. Malcolm McGregor from Pringle Richards Sharratt was with the project from start to finish and helped us achieve all this and we were delighted to be honoured with a Hackney Design Award in December 2022. As a further endorsement to the project as a whole, we the parks team, have moved into the wonderfully restored first floor of the house from which we now operate."

LB Hackney’s website:

https://news.hackney.gov.uk/new-pictures-from-springfield-park-restoration-project

Springfield Park Tour-around Video:

https://vimeo.com/788327032