Sports buildings

BUILDING IT UP

This year has seen some great facility projects up and down the UK. SportsNation takes a closer look at some of the highlights

The canopy was designed and manufactured by Fordingbridge

Durham University’s women’s team improves facilities

SAPCA member Fordingbridge was appointed to improve the club grounds of the FA Women’s Championship side Durham Women’s FC. Durham University approached Fordingbridge for the project at Maiden Castle, which the university had identified as one of the key sites for its 20-year upgrade strategy.

Fordingbridge provided a cantilever canopy, immediately adjacent to the Sports Centre at the Durham ground. It offers 5m of clear spectator space, allowing supporters to enjoy the match whatever the weather.

Featuring a 16mm triple-wall polycarbonate roof, the canopy allows a generous amount of diffused natural light, while significantly reducing UV and providing rain protection.

Treviglas Academy invests in indoor sports

Airhall specialist Bridome completed the installation of a multi-purpose facility at the prestigious Treviglas Academy at Newquay in Cornwall. The multi-sport airhall will allow indoor sports to be played year-round, helping the school with its curriculum.

The structure is a Bridome double skin variety, whereby the two skins are inflated to provide insulation during the winter months and prevent solar gain in the summer months. A computercontrolled inflation unit – which manages the airflow – and LED lighting help energy efficiency.

SAPCA member Bridome’s operatives installed the facility in one week in the summer holidays to prevent disruption to normal school timetables.

A computer-controlled inflation unit and LED lighting help with energy efficiency

Facility design encouraging active lifestyles

SAPCA member David Morley Architects has developed and refined an ethos of ‘enhancing lives with design’. This approach can be seen in the recently completed sports complex at King’s College School, Wimbledon, which includes contact with nature and the concept of ‘open plan’ sport.

The project includes a new sports hall, gym, studios, and a swimming pool where there is a high level of intervisibility between each space to help encourage participation. In addition, the swimming pool is visible from the main entrance to present an enticing view to come in and swim.

The contact with nature is reinforced by the timber structure, with sweeping curves evoking a sense of movement.

New leisure centre for Swanley

The brand new £20m White Oak Leisure Centre in Swanley in Kent, has opened its doors. Operated by Everyone Active and designed to serve the needs of a diverse community, the centre features two pools – a 25m six lane main pool with a movable floor and a learner pool – a 100+ station gym, soft play area, a virtual group cycling studio, a two-court sports hall and multi-purpose rooms.

The centre also includes TAG Active, a gamebased indoor obstacle course for kids. A Feel Good Suite featuring power-assisted equipment provides a safe space to exercise for people with limited mobility, the elderly and those managing long-term conditions. The swimming areas include two ‘Pool Pods’ to aid accessibility, two lifts provide access between floors, and the centre also offers changing places toilets.

Procured by Sevenoaks District Council through the UK Leisure Framework, the facility was delivered by Alliance Leisure and is the council’s largest public project in more than 30 years.

Councillor Peter Fleming, Leader of the Council, at Sevenoaks District Council, said: “This facility offers a sustainable leisure provision that will be enjoyed for generations. Through this investment we are committing to encouraging an active community to drive health, happiness and prosperity for all.”

The translucent dome allows play with sunlight during the day and with floodlights in the evenings

SAPCA member Covair was approached by Flitwick and Ampthill LTC in January 2021 to cover two of the club’s tennis courts to enable play in poor weather during the winter months.

The club was granted planning permission for the structures in late 2021 and sourced funding from The LTA. An order for the air dome with Covair was placed just before Christmas in 2021. Covair then began the manufacturing process in the new year and delivered the air dome by February 2022.

It took the team three days on site to install and inflate the dome. As part of the dome, the club also installed a CIA gate/Club Spark system.

The dome, being 90% translucent, allows play with sunlight during the day and with the use of external floodlights during the evenings. A revolving door is used as the main entrance to prevent a drop in air pressure and there are two emergency fire doors. The dome was temporarily dismantled and packed away for the summer, which took just half a day.

With Covair’s assistance, the club plans to re-inflate their dome again this October to play through the winter.

St John’s Marlborough invests in indoor sports

St John’s Marlborough has expanded its sports provision for the school’s 1700+ students – while also ensuring that local community groups have access to a wider range of facilities. The secondary school has opened a £2.14m multi-sports facility with a four-court sports hall, two external multi-use courts and landscaped areas for student recreation.

The facility project was completed by Collinson Construction. Working in partnership with Edmond Shipway and NVB Architects, Collinson delivered the scheme in eight months and transformed a previously unused area of rough ground at the front of the school.

Robert Duxbury, MD of Collinson Construction, said: “We’re proud to have worked in partnership with St John’s Marlborough to bring this wonderful new facility to life.

“The scheme fulfils the school’s aim to transform the space outside the main entrance.”

The sports centre will serve both students and the public

Nussli helps Birmingham 2022 with temporary structures

Nussli completed the progressive design and build of temporary facilities at the new Sandwell Aquatics Centre in Smethwick for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

The company was appointed by Wates Construction in Summer 2021 to design, install, maintain – and ultimately remove – a fully fitted out, climate controlled 60m x 25m x 8m demountable building. The project included a temporary, steel 50m training pool and associated swimming pool plant equipment, link building, four temporary staircases and 4,000 premium spectator seats.

Danilo Della Ca, COO Event Structures for Nussli, said: “We have delivering designbuild schemes for major events in the UK – including for the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games and Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games – and were delighted that Wates Construction chose to partner with us on this complicated, time-critical scope.”

The project included 4,000 temporary spectator seats

UK’s Defence Academy invests in sports

The multipurpose space utilises Neptunus’ Flexolution structure technology

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has provided the Defence Academy at Shrivenham, near Swindon with improved sports provision. The Academy is famed for its world-class professional defence and security education.

Temporary facility specialists Neptunus was tasked with providing the academy with a multi-purpose sports hall with an internal height of 7.6m. The brief was for the facility to accommodate sports including badminton, basketball, five-a-side football, and volleyball in accordance to Sports England facility standards. Other areas were to include an activity zone for yoga, circuit training and an indoor cycling studio.

Neptunus utilised the third generation of its Flexolution structure technology to erect a multi-functional relocatable building to be used as a sports hall. The 9-metre tall hall, spanning 756sqm, was adjoined to a five-metre tall ancillary Flexolution structure.

COVERED SPORTS AREAS | SPECTATOR CANOPIES

Contact us today to see how we can help you provide all year weather protected solutions for your sports facility

01243 55 44 55 info@fordingbridge.co.uk Arundel, West Sussex

The arena provides a total of 20,600m3 of playing space

University of York upgrades facilities

University of York has added a 40m wide x 55m long sports arena to its facilities. Designed, manufactured and constructed by Rubb Buildings, the indoor, multi-sports facility has a height of 13.4m and an internal clear centre height of 11.9m. The Mansard, multi-pitch roof provides an internal volume of playing space at 20,600m3.

The sports building includes a central, premier standard, multi-sports court for recreational and performance level basketball, netball, badminton, futsal and volleyball. The area can be divided into three sections with vertical partitions, which can each accommodate a basketball or volleyball court or up to four badminton courts. The facility can also be transformed to create a full hall show court for all sports including basketball, which will be supported by dropdown basketball nets and three scoreboards.

The 6.7m high side-walls and end gables feature 80mm thick steel cladding, and Rubb’s Thermohall insulated fabric membrane completes the roof of the facility.

A relocatable building for Stratford Padel Club

Stratford Padel Club in London, which is owned and managed by Javier Fernandez, went through a lengthy planning process and prolonged negotiations with the local council before the project was given the green light. Fernandez credits SAPCA member Smart-Space for the breakthrough, as – after he got in touch with company – the sports structures specialist took the time to visit and find solutions for him.

“I chose Smart-Space because they gave me alternatives to several issues where other companies just dismissed us” Fernandez says.

To enable the project to succeed, SmartSpace suggested a temporary building which would tick all the boxes in terms of space – such as not having any supporting pillars to get in the way of the courts.

Stratford Padel Club now houses three padel courts, changing rooms, showers, toilets, a gym, reception/bar and seating area. According to Fernandez, the club has an urban atmosphere that lends itself well to the sport, the ‘gritty not glitzy’ approach to sport and the club’s basic, hard-working gym.

“As a former cross-fit trainer, PT and climber, I enjoy all sport and wanted to provide a range of attractions at the club - including table tennis,” he says. “Going forward, one of the advantages of the Smart-Space building is that it can be easily relocated so wherever the club goes, the building can go too.”

Padel is enjoying a huge surge in popularity in the UK

Wentworth’s 18th hole was surrounded by temporary structures

Wentworth goes big with temporary structures

The Arena Group designed and installed a range of bespoke structures and seating for the 2022 BMW PGA Championships at Wentworth, September 2022.

A range of temporary infrastructure was provided across the prestigious course, including entrance pavilions, player facilities, organisers offices, merchandising areas, media structures, interactive exhibition structures and food court.

Most impressive was the installation overlooking the 18th green, where Arena installed a 3,000sq m VIP triple decker hospitality suite, adjoining a 2,351 capacity Clearview grandstand. The temporary facilities meet the vision of the European Tour of giving guests pristine views and a “truly memorable experience”, with Shane Lowry pipping Rory Mcilroy and Jon Ram by one shot to become the Rolex Series Champion on the final day.

Could environmentally-friendly swimming facilities help solve UK’s pool crisis?

With more than 200 swimming pool closures since the pandemic and fears that a further 2,000 pools could be lost by the end of the decade, Swim England partner, Paragon Structures, has developed concept designs for a more cost-effective and environmentally-friendly swimming facility.

The design of the ‘Swim Centre’ combines Sprung Structures’ insulated tensioned membrane building with the latest pool technology, providing a swimming facility at significantly lower cost than traditional builds - such as leisure centres.

The pre-designed, off-site solution means the Swim Centre has a full build programme of around 35-40 weeks, compared to more than a year for conventionally built pool facilities. Based on the internal footprint of the Swim England model, estimated works cost £3,500 per sqm.

With a focus on energy efficiency, sustainability and life-cycle costs, the concept centre has a BREEAM rating of Excellent. The thermal properties of the building ensure U-values and

The pre-designed centres have a full build programme of 35-40 weeks

energy loss are below similar building types, reducing both capital and operating costs, while insulation levels exceed building regulations.

The two-storey building includes a fully accessible, naturally lit, 25m six-lane pool; spectator seating for 150 people; separate wet changing villages with multiple family/ baby change rooms, integral plant room and storage areas; a reception, café and social space, as well as a multi-purpose gym and activity area and office space. ●