Leisure
Seaside leisure
A buoyant sector within the
construction industry at present
is the leisure category, as a
number of local authorities
around the UK are currently updating and
replacing old swimming pools, aquatics
parks and sports halls.
Steelwork, more often than not, is the
framing solution for these projects as the
material can easily create the long span
column-free spaces required in leisure
centres.
An example of this work is the £17M
steel-framed leisure centre under
construction for Arun District Council at
Littlehampton.
Replacing an existing centre, the new
multi-million pound facility will include
an eight-lane 25m-long swimming pool,
17m-long training pool with a moveable
floor, 100 station gym, dance studio,
spinning studio, four-court sports hall as
well as a café and meeting rooms.
Project architect Space & Place (S&P)
says it has been designing sports and leisure
centres for over 35 years and has gained a
great understanding of the benefits steel can
bring, in particular in providing visually
lightweight structures over the long span,
column-free volumes required for sports
halls and swimming pools.
“Improvements in paint technology and
protective systems, combined with reduced
cold bridging, ensure steel offers our clients
an attractive long term structure without
high maintenance costs,” explains S&P
Associate Director Nic Bryant.
“At Littlehampton the seaside location
has poor and wet ground conditions so
cantilevered steel frames and transfer
trusses were used to help reduce the
number of columns and associated piles
and ground beams.
“By ensuring an economic steel structure
the client’s budget can be focused on
providing sports facilities to the local
community.”
The design is slightly elevated above
the existing ground level to minimise
the impact of the high water table during
construction, but more importantly above
potential flood levels should the sea wall
ever be breached. This approach has the
added bonus of improving views out to sea
and increasing visibility along the seafront.
Contained within one large steel-framed
structure, the project has been designed
along trusted and well-used parameters.
As Furness Partnership Project Engineer
Joe Haines says: “We have worked on a
number of leisure centres in collaboration
with Space & Place (see Rhyl waterpark
in NSC April 2018), and together we have
developed an optimised design solution
which always uses structural steelwork.”
Steelwork has offered the design team
the most efficient method of forming the
long uninterrupted spans needed within
the centre, as well as being a material that is
quick to erect, thereby helping to keep the
construction programme on schedule.
Main contractor Willmott Dixon started
on-site late last year, inheriting a plot that
had already been cleared of its previous
buildings.
“Our early works included flattening the
site and installing a piling mat, with piles
up to 28m-deep. This then allowed the steel
frame to be erected which was completed
by the end of March,” explains Willmott
Dixon Senior Building Manager Tom
Hooper-Smith.
Steelwork contractor William Haley
Engineering erected the majority of the
project’s steelwork using a 60t-capacity
mobile crane, with the only exception
being a 22m-long × 3.5m-deep truss which
required the use of a 130t-capacity crane.
Weighing 10t, the truss runs down the
spine of the facility and is an important
element of the project as it sits between the
two pools and creates an open-plan space
for the entire aquatics area.
The truss performs two essential tasks;
its top chord supports a series of 22m-long
beams that span over the main pool, while
its bottom chord picks up the steelwork that
forms a plant deck that in turn spans over
the training pool.
Like most of the steelwork throughout
the project, this truss will be left
exposed within the completed scheme.
Sporting pursuits are set for a substantial boost in the West
Sussex seaside town of Littlehampton as a new £17M leisure
centre is under way.
Steel has provided
the most costeffective
solution for
the client
FACT FILE
Littlehampton Leisure
Centre
Main client:
Arun District Council
Architect:
Space & Place
Main contractor:
Willmott Dixon
Structural engineer:
Furness Partnership
Steelwork contractor:
William Haley
Engineering
Steel tonnage: 300t
22 NSC
May 18
/Leisure_buildings
/Leisure_buildings#Ability_to_span_long_distances
/Braced_frames
/The_case_for_steel#Take_a_load_off_your_foundations
/Paint_coatings
/Thermal_performance#Thermal_bridging
/Trusses
/Design
/Construction
/Rhyl_waterpark_and_leisure_centre
/Leisure_buildings#Ease_and_speed_of_construction
/Construction#Steel_erection
/Construction#Mobile_cranes