JW3: Jewish Community Centre London

JW3’s programme embraces arts, culture, debate, food & drink, nightlife, health & fitness, and family – all with a Jewish flavour and context. The new building is modern, forward thinking and filled with events and activities that invigorate Jewish life in the capital. Through a programme of events and across the building, JW3 is transforming the lives of the tens of thousands of Jews living in London.

The scheme comprises a flexible three-storey community centre and a generous open space for outdoor events, carefully protected from the Finchley Road, and a residential block of 14 two-bedroom flats with views to the southwest. Occupying part of the ground and the first floors is a flexible multipurpose hall designed to cater for a wide variety of uses ranging from drama, dance, lectures and workshops to flat floor events such as functions, exhibitions, bar mitzvahs etc. It is a robust, clean-finished room with an audience balcony and retractable seating that can quickly reconfigure the room between formats. The multipurpose hall accommodates up to 270 people seated or a standing audience of 400. A double-height acoustic sliding door connects the room to the central foyer/hub of the building and a matching second door brings daylight into the space or can be opened onto the adjacent outdoor piazza. An intimate screening room located off the ground floor foyer offers a high standard audiovisual experience for up to 60 people.

We advised on the design of the multi-purpose hall, screening room and the performance-related technical provision throughout the building.