North West Premier Construction

Oldham Leisure Centre

Oldham Leisure Centre
Written by Roma Publications

Oldham Leisure Centre – Proud Oldham launches leisure centre flagship

Oldham Leisure Centre

Oldham has proudly launched its brand new ÂŁ15 million flagship Leisure Centre which opened recently, helping to put the town on the national sporting map.

Replacing an older facility which is now closed, the new leisure centre provides enhanced facilities which enable Oldham to hold regional and televised competitions like never before.

Located at the junction of Manchester Street and St Domingo Street, the centre physically links Oldham College to Oldham Sixth Form College.
The project was carried out for Oldham Council by delivery partners Willmott Dixon. Architects were GT Architects.

The new centre includes a 25-metre, eight-lane swimming pool of county-level standard, a separate learner pool; a 250 spectator seating gallery to the main pool; 150 competitor seats at the poolside and a wet changing village.

There is also a state of the art gym with 80 workout stations, providing a large range of cardio and resistance training equipment for members, as well as a collection of free weights and designated zones for warm up and warm down.

The new gym uses leading cardio and resistance equipment from Technogym, featuring popular machines such as bikes, rowers, cross trainers, and ‘Run Now’ treadmills, which have a cushioned surface for a more natural running sensation.

The gym also features Vario, Crossover, and Synchro equipment, providing total upper and lower body workouts, as well as offering Recline and Step machines, which are perfect for users with limited mobility.

Other facilities comprise two dance studios, a bespoke spinning studio, separate changing areas for dry sports and an eight court sports hall with seating for over 450 spectators, offering members the chance to take part in sports such as badminton, netball, football, table tennis, cricket, and much more.

Oldham Leisure Centre

In addition, the centre’s four rink indoor bowls arena offers four state of the art rinks that are precisely levelled for accuracy. The bowls hall uses lighting that is glare free, to provide the best possible indoor bowling experience.

Further facilities include a cedar clad cabin sauna fitted with amber LED mood lighting, and a steam room with colour changing LED lights and essence dosing for ultimate relaxation.

The centre also includes a café and a 122 space car park.

External works on the project comprised improved landscaping and public realm works, including bespoke elements such as granite seats, large Cor‐Ten planters and tilted light stacks to draw people into the site. The existing levels have been used to create planted terraces and steps which double as informal seats. At night, the scheme continues to impress with subtle lighting beneath the seats and from the light stacks.
Councillor Jean Stretton, Oldham Council Leader said: “This amazing facility is a key element in the town’s transformation.

“Oldham Leisure Centre is not only a first-class facility for residents and visitors, but also an important community and social venue – and one that will have the correct specifications to attract major regional and national competitions in some sports.

“We made a commitment following the London Olympics that we would provide facilities that would improve the health and wellbeing of our residents. We also pledged that the new facilities would create local jobs and a large number of residents and local firms were involved in the construction.
“I would like to congratulate all that have been involved in creating this stunning centre.”

Councillor Jean Stretton, Oldham Council Leader, said:
“Residents are beginning to see a number of ambitious developments underway around the town centre, plus economy boosting schemes like the Prince’s Gate development at Oldham Mumps being announced.
“This state-of-the-art, 21st century leisure facility is a vital part of the regeneration jigsaw and one of many for our residents and future generations to be excited and proud about.
“Willmott Dixon is a key employer in the borough and a well-respected construction firm.”

Stuart Lockwood, Oldham Community Leisure Chief Executive said:
“Our team, in partnership with Oldham Council, worked extremely hard over the last few years to bring this monumental project to life.”
Anthony Dillon, Willmott Dixon’s Northern managing director, said:
“I was delighted to see the opening of our second leisure centre with Oldham Council. This was a challenging construction project and credit must go the council and the whole project team for delivering such a first class community facility using so much local labour.”
Construction of the building was achieved on schedule – just a month after the nearby £8m Royton Sports Centre opened its doors – completing a new and fresh, local, leisure estate the public can be proud of.
Willmott Dixon signed up to the Get Oldham Working Construction Charter – which seeks to link physical regeneration projects to employment and training opportunities for local residents and supply chain opportunities for local businesses.
Developers and contractors who adopt the principles of the charter are undertaking a voluntary commitment to help create work-related opportunities for the people of Oldham.

Alternative Systems Protection

Alternative Systems Protection (ASP) is a privately owned and run business, operating nationally in the UK and has been trading since 1989 providing values of quality service in a high technological industry.

ASP will design, supply and install complete systems nationwide. Engineers are individually vetted and are highly trained and multi disciplined – a vital asset in today’s integrated security and building management environments.

ASP achieved ISO 9000 recognition in 1996 and all installations are to the relevant BS and ISO standards.

The company has a commitment to continuing service and maintenance. In the case of installations carried out by ASP, on completion of any installation warranty period, the company offers a range of servicing and maintenance options, including a comprehensive all parts and labour extended warranty and preventative maintenance service.

Work undertaken by the company includes Closed Circuit Television, Access Control, Perimeter Detection/Alarm Systems, Integrated Systems, Automatic Gates, Automatic Barriers, Door Entry, Concierge and Computer Controlled Monitoring Systems.

A spokesperson for ASP said: “We believe our strengths lie in the flexible approach we have to security problem solving and in our ability to execute all of our work in house. The safety of both our customers and our team members is of the most utmost importance to the company and by a proactive approach to Health and Safety training; we ensure that our engineers, management and staff are fully aware of their roles and responsibilities in relation to the safe delivery of our services to our customers and clients. The company takes pride in its SAFE Contractor and other safety accreditations.”

ASP customers are essential to the future prosperity of the business and it is therefore important that the company satisfies customer requirements and develops customer confidence.

ASP aims to utilise the best of tried and tested technology from reputable manufacturers and suppliers and employs the best practices to utilise their resources effectively. The company fosters the motivation, personal growth and development of their staff in a safe working environment. ASP aims to offer an error free performance as they are committed to the never ending improvement of their products, services, technology and standards in every area. They also aim to produce a competitively priced product of a consistently high quality with short lead times, to achieve their planned objective of total customer satisfaction.

The company has worked with BPI, Virgin Active, NAMPAK, TDG Logistics, Scottish Water, P&O Ferries and Viridor to name a few. More recently ASP has worked with Oldham Leisure Centre on their development project.

Kinetic Construction

Kinetic Construction specialise in providing recruitment & HR Service solutions to the construction sector. Services include workforce management, interim, direct engagement & turnkey project support, supplying management & technical, skilled and unskilled skill sets via three specialist divisions.
Kinetic Construction is a specialist subsidiary of Kinetic Recruitment Services Ltd who have been trading since 1983, originally set up to service the manufacturing and engineering sectors and continues to do so.

Past and current projects for Kinetic Construction include First Street, Manchester; Exchange Street, Manchester; the A6, Semms (Mcr Airport A6 Relief Bypass); and Finsbury Park. Most recently, Kinetic Construction has been involved with Oldham Leisure Centre.

Working on the Oldham Leisure Centre project, Kinetic Construction support the Greater Manchester Training Association shared apprenticeship scheme providing the Apprentice Agreements and Employment support. The project sustained five apprentices who worked between the main contractor and sub-contractors including 1 x Ground Construction Operative, 1 x Plumber, 1 x Joiner, 1 x Trainee Project Manager and 1 x Trainee QS.

Kinetic Construction Regional Manager, Steve Taggart, said:
“The GTA shared apprenticeship scheme is unique and designed to maximising apprenticeship opportunities within the Greater Manchester Construction Pipeline and therefore delivering skills for the future into the construction sector.”
Steve added:
“Kinetic is one of the UK’s most trusted providers of temporary and contract workers as well as permanent staff within its markets. Kinetic has 30 years of continuous experience in recruitment & HR Services to a broad range of loyal customers; a robust ISO-accredited processes supported by a balanced scorecard approach, to performance measurement, resulting in first-class customer service recognised by numerous industry awards; and the highest quality and most committed recruitment experts in the industry individually trained in their specialist markets.”

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