The 10th of September 2018 saw the reopening of the Atlas Women's Centre in Lisburn on Bachelors Walk after extensive alteration and refurbishment and an additional 2nd floor. Tate Stevenson Architects Ltd have taken the building from Planning to Completion. The money provided for the project was awarded by Space & Place, from the £15 million Big Lottery funded capital grants programme which seeks to connect people and communities together by making use of underused or difficult space.
Representatives from the funding teams, the Mayor of Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council and Atlas Womens Centre management and committee members all gave short speeches thanking all those that brought this project from inception to fruition.
The old building was striped back to the bare structure and the internals were reconfigured to make use of natural light provided by new window openings. Dreary teaching rooms have a modern and airy feel.
The main bulk of the works comprised of adding a light weight SIPs structure clad with zinc to the second floor of the current building. This highly insulated structure has provided additional teaching space and includes an external sensory rooftop garden.
A lift was installed allowing full disabled access to this new upper floor. The existing crèche is being reduced, however this modification allows the new configuration to include an artificial grass covered outdoor play area.