The Rockfield Centre, Oban

Project Description

The announcement in 2014 that the former Rockfield Primary School would be demolished sparked a wave of reaction in Oban and surrounding area and launched a huge community campaign to save the building. Although the heart played its part – driven by nostalgia for their old school and their formative days – the community also recognised the potential value of the building and its grounds and the opportunity they provided to establish a community hub sitting central to the town, and a short walk from the esplanade, the railway station and the ferry terminal.
Oban Communities Trust was established, and in 2015, following a huge effort and a great deal of energy and resourcefulness from local people, the campaign to purchase the building was successful. Not only did this ensure that an ‘at risk’ listed building was saved for future generations but it also created an unstoppable momentum to realise the potential of this unique asset to create a distinctive resource that would, for residents and visitors alike, address many of the town’s needs under one roof.
The vison for The Rockfield Centre was born through extensive community engagement and consultation, the outcome being a desire to establish the hub as a blend of community, enterprise, production, display and social interaction through four key themes – namely arts and culture, history and heritage, community wellbeing, and education and enterprise – and these four strands of delivery formed the basis of the design team brief for the reconfiguration of the building.
Initial estimates established a budget requirement of £3m and over a relatively short period, a number of applications to major funders were successful. While these grants, along with smaller grants, donations and fund raising activities raised a significant proportion of the required funding, a shortfall remained and a community share issue was launched. The public support for the project was demonstrated when this raised £210,000.
However, the repair, refurbishment and reconfiguration of a ‘B listed’ building that had lain empty for 12 years was always going to present some significant challenges, and the design team and main contractor had to address a number of issues, including unexpected structural defects and dry rot, while still keeping costs within the available budget. The process from initial purchase to opening covered a five-year period that included loss of a major funder, market cost increases due to Brexit and the covid lockdown, but in October 2020, construction was complete and the building was handed back to the Trust and a programme of fit-out and furnishing works got underway.
With covid restrictions still very much to the fore, the new facilities were brought into use gradually throughout 2021 and in the past year The Rockfield Centre has become fully and firmly established as a vibrant, sustainable, cultural/community venue with a unique identity, a place which is welcoming, inspiring and accessible to all. A vital amenity to the town centre and an important part of its heritage that remains both at and in the heart of the Oban community.