Three Developments Complete On Time and On Budget
Three significant leisure build projects have defied lockdown challenges, completing on time and on budget.
Managed by Alliance Leisure via the UK Leisure Framework, owned by Denbighshire Council and managed by Denbighshire Leisure, Newmarket Leisure Centre in West Suffolk, Colwyn Leisure Centre in North Wales and Cossington Street Sport Centre in Leicester have all undergone extensive makeovers through the pandemic to realign their provision to the needs of the community they serve.
The £1.8 million development at Newmarket Leisure Centre is the second project to be awarded to Alliance Leisure by West Suffolk Council and follows the success of the development delivered by the same team at Haverhill Leisure Centre. Works began in November 2019 and completed July 2020 with works continuing through most of lockdown.
Designed by Saunders Boston Architects, the project team worked within the current building footprint to remodel the space and create new facilities designed to increase participation in regular physical activity among all segments of the local community.
These include a new soft play facility with a dedicated sensory room, a second exercise studio and an extension to the gym creating a functional training zone, with the addition of a new EGYM facility to attract a new user demographic. The centre, which is managed by Abbeycroft Leisure, also now benefits from new gym changing facilities, a new reception area and access control as well as a new Paddy & Scott’s style café, party and meeting rooms.
When Colwyn Leisure Centre on the Eirias Park leisure development in North Wales opened its doors post lockdown, visitors were greeted by a completely reimagined fitness suite.
“The government announcement in March that closed businesses across the UK was obviously a huge concern and we worried that works on Eirias Park would become very difficult,” says Alliance Leisure’s Business Development Manager, Will Gardner. “Fortunately, thanks to a solid supply chain and the strict adherence to health and safety guidance ensuring the safeguarding of workers, the project was able to progress, uninterrupted.”
The fitness suite in Colwyn Leisure Centre has been completely reconfigured. Two small, very tired studio spaces have been incorporated into the main gym, creating an open plan 397 square metre training space housing a full complement of Technogym strength and cardiovascular equipment. In addition, an Origin rig takes centre stage in the functional training area, providing a multitude of new training opportunities for users. New specialist flooring was also laid throughout the free weight and functional areas. At the moment, the sports hall is being utilised to host some gym equipment, helping the centre to manage social distancing.
In a separate, dedicated building on the same sports complex, the Eirias Performance Gym, utilised by the national rugby team and the community, has benefited from a complete new floor. Will Gardner explains: “Years of heavy weights being dropped had taken its toll on the floor’s structure resulting in a need to replace the sub floor and apply new screed. Sports performance specialist, Perform Better then laid a 32mm Duratrain floor with an astroturf sled track down the middle and a dedicated matted wrestle area in one corner.
The £632,000 development project was funded by funded by Conwy County Borough Council. Works began in February 2020 and continued through lockdown to complete, on time and well under budget, at the end of June.
In Leicester, one of the UK’s worst hit coronavirus areas, Alliance Leisure remodelled a traditional, under-utilised sports hall into a flexible workout space at Cossington Street Sports centre, forming part of a £2.3 million leisure regeneration scheme with Leicester City Council.
Tom Fairey, Senior Development Manager at Alliance leisure, says: “The superb hall conversion will accommodate a fully equipped gym and free weight section, with a studio space defined by a specialist sprung floor, half height partitioning plus independent lighting and audio systems. This innovative design, enhanced with daylight from new windows to the hall, provides a unique and modern open-plan fitness environment that will engage with many more users. Great news for Leicester following very difficult times during the pandemic”
The changing spaces have also been reconfigured and modernised, plus the entrance has been relocated to create a more welcoming space for visitors. The whole project took 6 months to complete
Speaking about the three projects, James Foley, Commercial Manager at Alliance Leisure, says: ““The team has worked incredibly hard to complete these projects on time despite the challenges caused by Covid-19 and lockdown. At a time when the government is urging the nation to get fit and lose weight, these improved facilities will attract new users to the centre and drive new revenue streams to help the centre have a sustainable future.”
£4.2 million Leisure Centre Redevelopment Completes in Merseyside
As leisure centres across the country re-open for business, Newton-Le-Willows Health & Fitness, Merseyside, has revealed a modernised Selwyn Leisure Centre, completely repurposed by Alliance Leisure to realign the facilities and services to the needs of the local community.
The phased project, which saw leisure, design and build specialist Createability acting as principal contractor, completely overhauled the centre to introduce a mezzanine floor in half of the existing sports hall to create a 90-station gym. The addition of a multi-functional exercise studio and a dedicated Les Mills Immersive group cycle studio completed the health and fitness transformation. The remainder of the sports hall facilitated a new adventure play area for under 11s along with three party rooms.
A Sport England grant of £335,000 funded improved access to the swimming pool and gym for people with disabilities as well as a new Village Change area. All other areas of the centre were renovated including the café, reception area and the changing areas serving the outdoor pitch. The site has undergone a complete mechanical, electrical and plant replacement to significantly extend the lifecycle of the building, along with the introduction of new carbon efficient technologies.
With the addition of children’s activities and innovative fitness solutions, the facility now serves a broader demographic and it is hoped these enhancements will improve local health outcomes. Prior to the development, health in the borough was worse than the national average, reflected by the higher than average cost of physical inactivity.
“The facility was dated and the type of activities available were clearly not attractive to the local community, which created a barrier to participation in exercise. Memberships pre-development was 1,000, with a latent demand of 1,948. Since the investment, memberships have increased to 2,300, which is a fantastic result for St Helen’s Council and local people,” says James Foley, Commercial Director at Alliance Leisure.
Starting in March 2019, the project was completed in five phases to keep the centre open to the public throughout the redevelopment. Final works completed in early August 2020, with works continuing during the challenges presented by lockdown.
David Boocock, Service Manager at St.Helens Council, said: “The council took the brave decision in 2019, in what was a challenging financial climate, to invest in the site. The impact of this investment has far exceeded our expectations and more importantly those of the communities which we serve. Working with the Alliance team we have repurposed space and broadened the appeal of the activities the building is able to accommodate. Their advice has been sound and, if anything, their forecasts for usage have been conservative. Within six months the site is hitting its three-year targets.
“The building has gone from a tired 90s sports centre to a facility which provides affordable leisure and fitness activities in a high quality environment for people of all ages and abilities.”
Ian Cotgrave, Managing Director of Createability, said: “This project was a real team effort by all concerned, and delivered in challenging Covid times. The results are spectacular, and the trans-formation needs to be seen to be believed.”
The project was secured under the UK Leisure Framework, which is owned by Denbighshire Council and managed by Denbighshire Leisure. Following its success, Alliance is starting work on a second project for St. Helens Council. The scheme will look to bring the swimming pool at Sutton Leisure Centre back into use, six years after it was closed to the public.
Alliance Leisure supports the #SaveLeisure campaign
Alliance Leisure and TA6 fully support the #SaveLeisure campaign, recognising the devastating impact that the Covid-19 pandemic could wreak upon the sports and leisure facilities across the country.
#SaveLeisure is a digital campaign urging the UK Government to commit circa £800 million relief funding to enable the full reopening and recovery of the public leisure sector accounting for the catastrophic impact of Covid-19.
We have spent over 20 years supporting leisure operators, including our provision of freely available support and guidance during and after the UK’s lockdown period. We therefore see it as our duty as a business to back this essential campaign, for the good of both our industry and the health of our nation as a whole.
Developing Leisure Facilities to Become a Destination
First impressions have the ability to make or break a business.
When creating amazing new facilities, there will always be budget constraints. As projects are scoped according to the available budget in both refurbishment and new build schemes, items can potentially be removed as a cost saving. One of these items can be the dressing of the site. However, this ultimately leads to the new leisure facility opening with a very ‘clinical’ feel, white walls throughout and no injection of colour.
The customer does not fully appreciate the cost of ‘hidden elements’ such as the groundworks or roof materials; however, they do notice the ‘look and feel’ of a facility in which they would like to spend their leisure time.
Strategic application of graphics throughout the facility can create an impactful environment, aid the customer journey, and strengthen the brand of the facility. This is evident at Northallerton Leisure Centre where Show Off Media installed graphics and signage: https://www.allianceleisure.co.uk/portfolio/northallerton/
Creating customised concepts and innovative spaces in your facility will truly provide the ‘wow’ factor that the current leisure consumer demands. Social media can help strengthen brands and increase footfall through facilities. The age of Instagram and photo opportunities is now prevalent with Gen Z so creating a backdrop they would be seen to be working out in is vital. Developing spaces that users want to share the images from is crucial in getting a viral message out there.
AV systems in studios and gyms are also so important to create the destination feel. The impact of a good Audio and Lighting system in both exercise studios and gyms can create an immersive environment, which can become a real USP for a facility. An example of this is Salt Ayre Leisure Centre in Lancaster, which was the first Local Authority operated facility to install an Immersive Cycle Studio and has seen amazing results since opening. A link to the case study can be found here: https://www.allianceleisure.co.uk/portfolio/salt-ayre/
Good graphics, wall dressings and AV can aid with membership sales but also with customer retention. It is so important to build impactful spaces where people want to repeatedly return to which are fun, welcoming, and exciting.
The next stage to creating a destination facility is future trends such as complete immersive environments that are on offer by Flareform. Completely changing the look and feel of a studio or gym through the use of lighting and projectors to create a completely immersive space.
There are other opportunities through the use of technology to enhance the facility and customer experience, whilst enticing a new demographic to your centre. As an example, the progression from a soft play to TAG Active using RFID technology to create a multi-faceted adventure zone complete with gamification for the competitive older demographic of 8 years plus. A great example of creating a space that caters for a wide demographic can be found here:
