Andrew Garrett, Head of Construction at BJF Group was delighted to attend the much-awaited official opening of the Bat & Ball Centre in Sevenoaks on behalf of the project team.

Usually, the highlight of the completion of an important community project such as the Bat & Ball Centre is the opening day, however, due to Covid restrictions the official opening had to be delayed. That is, until last week, when the project team, local counsellors and members of the public were invited to attend an opening night, hosted by Sevenoaks Town Council.

The official opening might have been delayed but the Centre has already proven pivotal in Sevenoaks’ fight against Covid, being used as a testing facility following completion in late 2020.

The evening was opened by Sevenoaks Town Council Town Clerk, Linda Larter, who presented the Centre’s journey to restoration.  Linda gave specials thanks to our delivery team, who worked with the project team to achieve the Town Council’s vision for the building.  Following on from Linda was the Sevenoaks Town Mayor, Councillor Dr. Merilyn Canet, who spoke about the importance of the building and the community it will be supporting in the coming years.

Designed by Theis + Khan Architects and built by BJF Group, the new Bat & Ball Centre is the result of a transformation of the original 1970’s Sevenoaks Community Centre. The project team (pictured above) also includes (left to right) Patrick Theis (Theis+Khan), Soraya Khan (Theis+Khan), Sarah Williams (Sevenoaks Town Council), Linda Larter (Sevenoaks Town Council), Glenn Ball (Glen Ball Associates), Jonathan Moulton (Moulton Taggart) and Andrew Garrett (BJF Group).

Andrew said:

“It’s evenings like this that have been sorely missed in the last eighteen month.  It was fantastic to finally be able to see the Bat and Ball Centre open to the community.  The team at BJF Group worked tirelessly to produce a building that we are extremely proud to be associated with.

We thank Sevenoaks Town Council for trusting us with the delivery of this flagship project and we look forward to continuing our association with the Sevenoaks district and with the Town Council in the future.”

You can find out more about the project and take a 3D virtual tour here