Refurbished supermarket turned community centre breathes life into Cornish town

A building which had been sitting derelict for nearly a decade has been re-imagined into a inspired well-being centre in Helston Cornwall.

The Helston Gateway project will bring a GP surgery and community space, with aspirations for an inspired youth centre featuring a climbing wall, community meeting rooms and exercise studios to the heart of the town. It will take just 12 months and £2.6 m of funding for the first phase of the net zero building project to come to fruition and it will be constructed by local companies.

NHS England’s Medical Director for Primary Care, Dr Claire Fuller recently visited the Helston Gateway project. Dr Fuller said:

“This kind of innovation is wonderful to see. This integrated way of working will help to ensure patient centred care that is provided as close as possible to home.”

Integrating health services into local high streets has long been hailed by health economists and the wider healthcare industry as a positive way to generate economic, social and health benefits for local communities. With the decline of the high street, there’s a clear opportunity to make healthcare more accessible and promote healthy living in our communities.

“This ambitious and inspired community-led project really benefited from private sector involvement, particularly with the design and build elements. Bringing in a healthcare consultancy with experience in developing world leading hospitals means that we can create top-notch clinical spaces quickly,” said Jonathan Kearsley from Trevissome Park Limited, the project manager for the Helston Gateway Project.

MJ Medical, the clinical designer for the project, has developed a proposed design for the GP surgery for the upper ground floor. Their idea is based on key flexible principles which allow the practice to adapt their layout and rooms based on changing needs and horizon medical technologies. The design includes consultation rooms for outpatient appointments, alleviating the need for people to travel nearly an hour or more to the main hospital.

South Kerrier Alliance CIC, the community interest company leading the project, secured capital funding for the medical and community space through Cornwall Council’s Good Growth Programme with £2,131,806 provided from central Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund and additional £500,000 from Cornwall Council’s Town Centre Revitalisation Fund.

Cllr Linda Taylor, Leader of Cornwall Council said “This is a great example of our Good Growth Funding programme empowering local organisations to work with the public sector to address the real needs within their communities. These two significant capital funding awards will help deliver a new facility that will make a real difference.”

The building will operate on a not-for-profit basis, ensuring that all income is re-invested back into the community.

Achieving net zero with an 80’s building shell

The project aims to achieve net zero carbon and the highest energy performance rating. The shell of the former supermarket was built in 1984 and it is surrounded by buildings and a car park. To power the ground source heating required the drilling of twelve boreholes to a total depth of 1.3km within the building footprint.

Specialist glazing in 27 new windows will reduce thermal gain. To assure the fabric of the building is thermally insulated to the highest standard possible, they’ve effectively had to build a new building inside the old shell.

The south elevation of the 1,500 square meter roof will be covered with solar panels, considerably reducing the running costs.

A fast local build

The project began in March 2024 with aims to open its doors in March 2025.

“The first two months were spent demolishing the internal structures, removing the walk-in freezers, the lift and stairs, the tills and conveyors, even the tobacconist shop from the old supermarket,” said Kearsley.

“We gained our funding on the first of March, so it was an immediate start. This is quite rare for a major construction project, only made possible through a mantra of local procurement underpinned by a very simple NEC 3(c) contract working on an open-book basis to deliver best value.

“We’ve been fortunate enough to find enough local people to carry out all aspects of the construction on a labour-only basis, even the electricians.  As there are no large companies involved in the construction, every penny of our budget has been kept local to the project.”