Premier Construction

Bh2 Leisure Complex

Bh2
Written by Roma Publications

Bh2 Leisure Complex

Bh2

A newly constructed leisure complex in Bournemouth has opened its doors to members of the public after a £30m development.

Bh2 Leisure Complex has an Odeon cinema with 10 state of the art cinema screens alongside a 175 space car park 14 top quality restaurants and a casino. The project was funded by Legal and General with Lucrum Holdings acting as the developer.

The origins of the 115,000 sq ft scheme can be traced back a number of years with construction originally scheduled to begin in 2008. However, after the financial crash hit, funds for the project were withdrawn and the development was mothballed until the market recovered.

An updated planning application was then put forward and consent gained with many of the original tenants coming back to the site in addition to a number of new brands. Main contractor VINCI Construction UK started on site at the end of 2014.

Max Davidson, Director at Lucrum Holdings, talked to Premier Construction about the project:

“Construction wasn’t simple and after a two stage tender process we chose Vinci UK to carry out the build as they demonstrated, amongst other things, a good knowledge and awareness of the risks associated with the ground conditions, which were to take up a large proportion of the total budget for the build. A huge amount of piling was required also involving six months of de-watering during construction. The town centre location has also meant that logistically the site has been very challenging.

“The car park and main shell are a concrete post tensioned frame used to maximise floor to ceiling heights. The cinema is a steel frame sitting on top of the concrete frame clad in a mixture of larch timber cladding, kalwall, reglit for stair towers and render panels with glazed balustrading. The roofs are either single ply membrane for flat roofs or standing seam kalzip.”

Max added:

“The whole roof is covered in aluminium louvres to shield the space visually from the upper levels of the adjacent hotel. Shopfronts to the restaurant units are primarily curtain wall glazing with timber panelling. Granite paving is used for the public realm areas.”

In addition to the brand new Odeon, a wide variety of culinary delights will be on offer. TGI Friday’s, Nando’s, Miller & Carter and Ask Italianare just some of the brands who signed up to Bh2. Easily accessible in the heart of Bournemouth, the complex overlooks the Listed Lower Gardens and boasts excellent transport links. The development is part of a wider effort to stimulate growth and jobs in the town.

Bh2

Max continued:

“It is the town centre location that, whilst challenging from a construction point of view, we feel is the biggest plus for the scheme. Bournemouth doesn’t have an all-weather leisure facility like this and with Odeon shutting down their cinemas on Westover Road, this will give families and the many visitors to Bournemouth an easily accessible offering.

“Numerous jobs are already being created and new brands are coming to Bournemouth for the first time. It sits within the Council’s proposed Grand Garden Walk, establishing a quality of public realm that will be reproduced across the area and alongside the Lower Gardens help to link the town retail pitch to Bournemouth International Centre and the beach front.”

Lucrum Holdings Ltd. has extensive experience in the office and retail development sectors, and has completed developments with a value in excess of £350m. The company is also involved in the leisure development sector, the residential sector and the investment market

To keep up to date with BH2 please visit http://www.bh2leisure.co.uk.

 

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Roma Publications