‘The Curve’ is Slough’s new cultural centre and library. The 4450m² building is the flagship public building for the ‘Heart of Slough’ regeneration scheme. 

 

The sculptural form accommodates a library, gallery, multi-purpose performance space and classrooms, with meeting rooms for council meetings and exhibitions; the building consolidates disparate community functions at the heart of the town centre.

 

BBLUR's concept creates a building as a flared accommodation ‘tube’ with welcoming fully glazed entry facades on the east and west that open onto two new public squares at each end of the building. These new public spaces anchor the cultural centre in the heart of the town centre, providing safe external space for people. 

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The ground floor planning of the building creates a new daytime pedestrian internal ‘street’ and shortcut between William Street and Mackenzie Square inviting footfall into and through the building.

 

‘The Curve’ provides a visual end to William Street and reads as a distinctive townscape marker building on the new crossroad of Wellington Street and Windsor Road.

 

We developed the building form to screen the rear service yards of the existing high street shops and provide a calm backdrop for the listed St Ethelbert’s Church. The space between the two buildings creates a public pocket park and a reading garden for the library nestled in the gentle silver arc of 'The Curve' behind the south of the church.