Regeneration

'Resolven is synonymous with the coal mining industry, the likes which emboldened and made Resolven a mining town. At the very heart of this was the Resolven Miners Association, the centerpoint in which artefacts of physical and communal infrastructure were manifested and radiated outward. The association was funded by the miners themselves and in its heyday, it was a bustling venue that provided its patrons with event space, cinema, commune, and financial aid.
Flash forward to the present, with the decline of coal mining, the building is frozen in time, with only about 20% of the building actually in use. Despite the reality of time, the building was able to remain a hub for people of Resolven. The heart of Resolven still remains, but with a disconnect between the building

Hence, to create an adapted social and financial value for the modern day, the proposal shows the building updated to embolden and facilitate the people of Resolven so they can prove more resilient and more prosperous in the future, taking care of the economical and mental wellbeing as well as health of the community. This is through surrounding the programme around the values of nutrition and facilitating education in growing, cooking, and eating healthily. The scheme will also carry through the strategy of holding markets within the site to better connect local producers to Resolven.

The ground floor is centered around a multipurpose canteen served by a commercial kitchen that are run by chefs and volunteers. It is also served by a test kitchen where classes are held for children young and old about healthy eating. The glazed windows open up to a courtyard that then connects to the semi outdoor growing space. The growing, cooking, and eating spaced are connected visually and are in such proximity due to how interconnected these activities are in Replenish Wales strategy to embolden Resolven through education and community.

The spaces will be inhabited by different groups throughout the day, and people of all ages are given the opportunity to interact during workshops and other events.
There are two ways the courtyard is inhabited with people tending to the crops at the front of the site and relaxing in the courtyard, and days where there are markets that happen that invite local producers from the wider Neath Porth Talbolt area. In this case, both the courtyard and the canteen is inhabited by stalls with people miling around and buying wares, and eating food from vendors and the kitchen.

The proposal will be carried out in phases,

Phase 1 - Demolishing interior fit out of the ground floor main building. This is to provide adequate cooking space and storage for the canteen. The majority of the envelope will remain the same.

Phase 2 - Removing the roof of the snooker room and gutting out the envelope. Creating a glazed extension connected to the snooker room wall. This is to create a central outdoor meeting space that is multifunctional, allowing for the activities that surround it to territorialize the space depending on the time of day. It is also central in the concept of palimpsest, and incorporating the old for a new purpose.

Phase 3 - Build the mesh frame covering.
The covering will wrap the snooker room and learning hub, blurring the lines between the street and the site, and allowing for a layer of privacy and protection for the inhabitants as well as the plants.

Phase 4 - Renovating the existing