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Advanced Measurement and Technology

W12032462

A critique of the design of Sport Central. Visit your chosen building and critically consider its design and identify alternative approaches that could have been taken which might have delivered a better end product.

Identify both aspects of the design which you think work well and are effective as well as those which would have benefited from improvements or a different approach.

Building Design and Performance Critique

Word Count: 2875

9th February 2015

Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 2 Building Construction Information ............................................................................................................... 4 Building Aesthetics ........................................................................................................................................ 5 Building Users ............................................................................................................................................... 7 How does it compare? .................................................................................................................................. 9 Alternative Approaches .............................................................................................................................. 11 References .................................................................................................................................................. 13

Introduction Sports central was constructed from 2008 to 2010 by the Sir Robert McAlpine building and civil engineering company and designed by the Akins Group at a cost of £30,000,000. Over three storeys there is ‘11,000m² of state-of-the-art fitness and training facilities’ (Sir Robert McAlpine, 2015), incorporating a 3,000 seat main areana which can be sectioned off into three sports hall, squash courts, 25m swimming pool, a fitness suite, 12m high climbing wall, indoor running track and squash courts. As it is a university building there are also facilities for educational use such as laboratories, along with performance and analysis suites. The Akins Group stated that “Our design demonstrates how a large volume space can be sensitively handled to create a valuable piece of new townscape” (N/D).

Figure 1- Northumbria University NU Sport Central, 2015

Building Construction Information As the site for the building was a brown-field site in the middle of the university campus there were restriction issues for the construction team, this was resolved by having two cranes lift the main pieces of the building into place. This project had some major offFigure 2- Sir Robert McAlpine, 2015

site fabrication, including 42 trusses and the buildings 1,600 bronze anodised aluminium facade screens with an estimated 149,000 perforations. Sports Central has a BREAM rating of “excellent”, it has a ‘combined heat and power plant which generates electricity for the sports centre as well as exporting power to the students union, it also uses the heat from the unit to heat the 25m swimming pool. The toilets are flushed using the 125,000 litre rainwater harvesting tank and lights are digitally controlled to add further efficiency to the building.’ (Sir Robert McAlpine, 2015).

Figure 3-Google maps Sports Central Site, 2008

Building Aesthetics Sports Central is one of Northumbria University’s newer buildings, which is very obvious when you look at the surrounding buildings such as Ellison Building. It is very modern looking with large, potentially excessive, bronzed cladding which offers very little natural

Figure 5- Akins Group Sports Central, (No Date)

light due to the lack of windows. In comparison to Ellison building which has lots of glass and windows which offers lots of natural light to the building. However, the buildings have two very different uses; Ellison building for solely educational use, open to students during the day for long periods of time, natural light is a must in this situation as mechanical lighting can often lead to headaches and eye strain. Windows are used to ventilate this building as well, in classrooms which are used most of the day five days a week, the ability to open the windows to ventilate the classrooms as the building has so many Figure 4- Wikipedia Commons Ellison Courtyard, 2010

rooms it would be

astronomically expensive to ventilate every classroom. On the other hand Sports Central has a use which not only requires mechanical ventilation, due to students perspiring excessively during exercise meaning the air needs to be changed and cooled, but the building has rooms in the inside of the centre which do not have the luxury of windows. Windows are not available in the middle of the building which means

that it has no natural light, however as the building is used at all times of day, natural light is not always available, especially if students are using the facilities before classes in the morning and after classes late at night. Also windows would not allow users of the sports centre to feel “comfortable”, having people watch and look at you can be off putting if you are training or even if you are exercising to lose weight, less people would use the sports centre if the building was full of windows. Also when competing, natural light can be off putting as it can be blinding, this could leave competitors at a disadvantage.

Sports Central as a building is very different to look at, it stands out, you either love it or you hate it, but everyone notices it. You can’t miss it, and it’s a serious talking point of the university and another facility to draw students in, for £200 a year students can have full access to the sports centre. But it is not just students that get drawn into the sports centre, people who are walking past can get drawn in and they can have access to it as well. The design of the building is designed in such a way that people are attracted in, as it doesn’t look like a gym or sports centre, curiosity means people want to go in and check what it is. Not having any windows means that people can’t see in, and can’t see anything behind the bronzed cladding so unless you knew it was a sports centre you wouldn’t automatically know what it was. The climbing wall I believe is one of the best things about Sports Central, it was the very first thing I looked at when I saw the building and even now I always glance up at the wall thinking how good it looks, that people can see in, and that I always wish I had time to stop and try it. A climbing wall is something not all gyms and sports centres commonly offer, and if I was a full time student I definitely would have made it something that I had tried, it would have been the one thing that enticed me in if I was unsure about it.

Aesthetics is not just about the external of the building, aesthetics very much depends on the internal design of the building, the rooms inside are specifically designed for each sport and exercise and they are all attracting. Having more windows would be a way to give the rooms a nicer view, however could be off putting for some. The

Building Users As previously stated, membership to Sports Central for students costs £200 a year, or £20 a month. When students go away to university it is often the first time they have lived away from home and often takeaways and fast food become a way of life, this along with drinking means that 8 out of 10 students put on 14lbs-28lbs their first year of university (Slimming World, 2013). Having access to a sports centre right on campus means that more student are likely to join, also Sports Central offers a massive selection of exercise options, including classes which students can use to meet more students and become more social. Sports Central also hosts many team sports such as basketball and netball, which also is a benefit to students who want more out of their university experience. If the building itself was not aesthetically pleasing, both inside and out, less students would be willing to use it, but with it being new and interesting more and more students join. What Sports Central has to offer inside for the university is vast compared to others, there is something for everyone, and something new for others to try. On the opening of Sports Central former Prime Minister Tony Blair stated, “This is a fabulous facility, not just for the university but for the whole region and even beyond. I’ve been knocked out by it. We have talented sports people in the North East and this centre could help them become better” (2010).

The sports centre is open to all students and the public, which means on weekend when students are having late nights and late mornings that Sports Central is still taking in revenue. So when designing the sports centre it had to be taken into account that serious athletes may chose to use the centre, Sports Central was used as a PreOlympic training ground and is the home of the Newcastle Eagles Basketball Team.

Newcastle Eagles Basketball Team coach Paul Blake has noted to The Chronicle, “Moving to Sport Central is an exciting new chapter in the history of the eagles. Our community development programme runs alongside Northumbria’s and our coaches’ work with the university coaches. (2010)

One of the most important things to remember when considering the design of a building is the affect that it has on the user. The building user’s needs must be taken into consideration, their comfort levels, how the environment makes them feel. For Sports Central the users must feel inspired to go on, this is not just about comfort levels of heat, air and lighting, but the actual design of the building. The buildings open rooms and spaces are needed for the users to feel comfortable, especially during exercise, small rooms can make people feel like there’s no fresh air which makes them want to stop, larger rooms make people feel like they can do more, push themselves further, which is important in a sports centre.

How does it compare?

Durham University, named The Times and Sunday Times Sports University of the Year 2015, but how does Northumbria’s Sports Central compare? ‘The Graham Sports Centre, set on the outskirts of Durham, has an indoor rowing tank, fencing piste, cricket nets and a performance analysis suite; further extension will include an extended sports hall. The sports centre also encompasses 5 football pitches, 4 rugby pitches, squash courts, netball courts, tennis courts, cricket pitches and much more including a bar and restaurant. Another sports centre Durham University has is Queen’s Campus Sports Centre, situated near Tees Barrage offers a fully equipped fitness suite, exercise classes, eight sports halls and much more.’ (Durham University, No Date).

However, with 31,500 on average attending Northumbria University every year and only almost half Figure 6- Durham City Harriers the Graham Sports Centre, 2014

of that at 17,000

students attending Durham University it would appear that having multiple sports centres is not to account for the amount of students, but Durham University themselves believe that sports is important in getting a full university education and can help students get better jobs and earn more money in their futures.

Figure 7- Which? University Queens Campus Sports Centre, No Date

The aesthetics of the buildings are very different, one is steel frame and clad in steel, the other appears to be steel frame and clad in wood. They are both attractive buildings, yet I wouldn’t look at either and know they were a sports centre. However, I feel I would be likely to be enticed into the Graham Sports Centre to see what it was.

Comparing these sports centres to Sports Central I feel that they are potentially superior in what they have to offer, but considering the space Northumbria had to build in, Sports Central suits the university perfectly. The benefit Sports Central has over these is that it is right in the heart of the campus, meaning more students will see it and be “wowed” and walk into it.

Another local university to compare Sports Central against would be Newcastle University’s Sports Centre, this houses a ‘state of the art fitness suite, sports massage clinic, double court sports hall, two multipurpose gym areas four squash courts and a dance studio.’ (Newcastle University, 2014) Like Sports Central, Newcastle University Sports Centre is on Campus, this means it is accessible to students very easily, however unlike Sports Central, there is nothing very spectacular about the look of this building, in fact to me it looks exactly like what it is, a sports centre. There is no wow factor here, I wouldn’t cross the street to get a closer look and even though it looks modern, I would not say it looks particularly inviting. This building Figure 8- Newcastle University Sports Centre, 2015

appears to blend in with the

campus, looking similar to other surrounding university buildings. 23,000 students attend this university and with what appear to be very limited exercising options, if I attended this university with it being close to Northumbria’s University, I would be more likely to choose to go to sports Central.

Alternative Approaches After considering what other universities have to offer in the way of sports centres an obvious point to make would be that Sports Central has no exterior grounds, no outside pitches or running tracks, and although there is much to do inside, sometimes exercise can be more beneficial and inviting if it can be done outdoors especially in summer.

However, due to size and site constraints, there is no room for this, doing this would have meant moving the sports centre off campus and that could potentially lead to less people using the building.

In the design of Sports Central it can perhaps be seen as “bulky�, especially as it sits among buildings which are so full of glass, making them seem like and airy. At this point it would be good to consider whether or not the cladding was the best idea, yes it looks striking, but was there something else that could have been done instead, saving time and money but had the same benefits and effects that the bronze cladding has.

Also on the side of the building which faces over the motorway onto campus east, would it have looked better from the inside to potentially put rooms with big windows which overlook the campus, offering something more than walls to look at as people exercise?

Although I personally would potentially feel slightly uncomfortable if I was using it, I still feel that it is such a shame that Sports Central does not have more areas around the building like the climbing wall. That to me was a genius move, to show something a little different, that most people don’t do, and make it be something that Figure 9-Safeguard One Way Privacy, 2012

students walk past every day. If there

was a way to incorporate a few more windows into the building, so that the facilities are showcased more to the public would potentially bring in more people. A way in which

this could be done could be to use one way glass; there are options of this available which are Solar Controlled, however for privacy reasons it would be better suited to common one way glass, this would also offer more natural light into the building.

With Sports Central obviously aiming for an efficient building, with a BREAM “excellence” rating I feel that they could have used the facade more to their benefit. A way that would have still left the building with a “wow” factor facade which would have still turned heads, would have been to incorporate Solar Panels into the cladding of the building, which yes would have added a cost to the build, but the building could then have not only heated the student union, but potentially other surrounding university buildings. The solar panels could have also be used for electricity to the fitness suites.

Another option in considering the design of Sports Central that I think could have benefited the building would be the potential of a living roof, a place where there was some greenery that students could go sit, as there isn’t much in the way of green areas around the university.

Figure 10-Philidalphia Heights New Green Office Building, 2011

This would be a good way of incorporating more usable space into the university, as it stands now there is not much in the way of outside seating areas where you are not overlooked or encompassed.

Also using the roof space you could also encompass outside pitches for sports, having them on the roof with high nets.

References Atkins Group (No Date) Northumbria University Sports Central. Available at: http://www.atkinsglobal.co.uk/en-GB/projects/northumbria-university-sport-central (Accessed: 6th February 2015).

Blair, T. (2010) ‘Former PM gives sports central seal of approval’, The Chronicle 26th June (online).

Blake, P. (2010) ‘Newcastle Eagles will play at Sports Central’, The Chronicle 11th August (online).

Durham City Harriers (2014) News. Available at: http://www.durhamcityharriers.org.uk/news/ (Accessed 6th February 2015).

Durham University (No Date) Sport. Available at: https://www.dur.ac.uk/undergraduate/facilities/sport/ (Accessed 6th February 2015).

Google Maps (2008) Sports Central Site Street View. Available at: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Northumbria+University/@54.977712,1.606021,3a,90y,279.21h,77.35t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s42Uc80bYG84xPN_7RSbSQ!2e0!4m2!3m1!1s0x487e70e112c5e9f7:0x79a7c60c923dce07 (Accessed/downloaded: 8th February 2015).

Newcastle University (2014) Campus Sport. Available at: http://www.ncl.ac.uk/sport/campus/ (Accessed 6th February 2015).

Northumbria University Newcastle (2015) NU Sport Central. Available at: http://www.nusportcentral.com/ckeditor/filemanager/userfiles/Sport_Central.jpg (Accessed/downloaded: 8th February 2015).

Philadelphia Heights (2011) New Green Office Building Pushes Office Development Further Into West Philadelphia. Available at: https://philadelphiaheights.wordpress.com/2011/12/12/new-green-office-buildingpushes-office-development-further-into-west-philadelphia/ (Accessed: 6th February 2015).

Safeguard (2012) One Way Privacy. Available at: http://www.sureguard.co.uk/gallery/one-way-privacy-glass/ (Accessed 6th February 2015).

Sir Robert McAlpine (2015) Sport Central. Available at: http://www.sir-robertmcalpine.com/projects/?id=32268 (Accessed: 6th February 2015).

Slimming World (2013) Eight in 10 students gain weight at university. Available at: http://www.slimmingworld.com/press-articles/student-special.aspx (Accessed: 6th February 2015).

Which? University (2015) Durham University. Available at: http://university.which.co.uk/durham-university-d86 (Accessed 6th February 2015).

Wikipedia Commons (2010) Ellison Courtyard. Available at: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ellison_Courtyard,_University_of_Northumbria_( geograph_1681975).jpg (Accessed/Downloaded: 6th February 2015).