Introducing Hinckley Leisure Centre
Hinckley’s new £15.1m leisure centre has taken shape on the site of the former council offices on Argents Mead, presenting a state-of-the-art facility for the community. The environmentally friendly leisure centre is bringing modern equipment, spacious studios and a landscaped exterior allowing for school and community use.
Approved by council members, the plans were submitted by Places for People Leisure, formerly known as DC Leisure, the company appointed to Design, Build and Operate and Maintain the new centre on behalf of the Borough Council for the next 20 years.
Specialising in non-housing projects, Pellikaan is a construction establishment that operates locally and internationally, specialising in design and build construction of leisure centres. Having been in operation since 1947, Pellikaan has designed and built a vast range of sports facilities, health clubs and racquet centres, amongst much more – Hinckley is one of their latest developments.
Premier Construction spoke with Corné Van Mook, Contract Manager at Pellikaan, to discuss the details on the new leisure facility. Corné revealed that:
“Hinckley Leisure Centre is a new build project – the introduction of a new leisure centre which began on site in October 2014, and is due for completion in May 2016. We are now in the final stages of completing the interior finishes and the remainder of the external Works, whilst the commissioning of the installations is starting to take place.
“There is a 25m, 8 lane swimming pool with spectator seating, and a learner pool which is 15m by 10m. Other wet areas include the kids splash area, sauna and steam room, and wet change facilities including a ‘Changing Places’ facility for disabled users.
“We incorporated a sports hall which is dividable into two with a movable wall, in addition to children’s playing area, a café area, and reception area.
“The large and spacious gym will feature hi-tech equipment for users, including a heavy weight section, cardio section and a spinning studio, as well as two dance studios.
“Located in an existing park setting, the site used to be the location of old council offices which were previously demolished – therefore external works that we are carrying out involve dressing up the existing park area and creating a new access road into the existing car park with disabled spaces.
“The building structure is concrete ground floor slab, with CFA piling foundations and concrete ring beams. The site also encompasses a steel structure with concrete metal decking and the elevations mainly consist of an aluminium curtain walling system and a wall cladding system, which for the biggest part is covered with a Trespa cladding and copper cladding to the main entrance.
“Our biggest challenge from a technical perspective was getting out of the ground with the foundations and keeping the site dry during these works – we experienced water travelling over the site surface as well as below the surface, so we had to manage and overcome this issue.”
Corné summarised with:
“It is a fantastic project in the heart of Hinckley, which has received a lot of attention from the local residents and local newspapers. We work closely along with our partners Places For People Leisure to deliver a high profile project for the local community. Expectations are high and we trust we can fulfil them along with our team of consultants and sub contractors.
Simon Jones, Cultural Services Manager and client for Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council said:
“This project has been very positive from the earliest stages of the procurement process. There is a genuine spirit of cooperation between all stakeholders. The Borough Council is proud of the facility and excited on how it will impact on our community.”
