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A combined leisure provision is a typical facility mix of swimming pool, sports hall and health and fitness facilities.

We have a suite of information covering combined leisure provision to help government officials, designers, community leaders, contractors and leisure operators, while focusing on affordability and future financial sustainability. 

Sports centres

Purpose designed indoor spaces for ‘fitness and exercise’, are widespread. Fitness and exercise spaces may form standalone clubs or be part of a larger public sports and leisure complex.

This guidance note aims to provide an understanding of the underlying design principles, the technical issues and the critical factors that need to be considered in a well-designed project.

Affordable sports centres (25m pool)

Alongside Swim England (formally the Amateur Swimming Association), we created the Affordable Sports Centres with Community 25m Pool Options guidance to help set out a planning process that will take project developers through the different design stages and ensure decisions are robust and based on local community needs. 

Our short brochure summarises the key areas that are covered in in the main document and appendices.

The full guidance below gives design and capital cost options for combined affordable multi-sports centres, which include swimming pools, sports halls and health and fitness facilities in a range of sizes, as well as procurement advice, business and operating models.

It’s aimed at the early briefing and design stages of new projects and works to give a better understanding of:

  • How affordable and easily operated facilities can offer resource savings and help address health
  • Wellbeing and demographic issues to better serve the specific needs of local community groups.

Our Affordable Sports Centres guidance is a November 2017 update on the previous March 2015 version. These updates include changes to capital and revenue costs to Q4, 2017

Appendix

There's also an additional appendix document that you can use alongside our main guidance. The appendices give greater in-depth analysis and additional commentary on the various sections covered and aim to clarify the technical and detailed subject areas covered. They contain information on:

  • Detailed accommodation list
  • Schedule of areas
  • Further layouts of affordable sports centres with community 25m pool options
  • Indicative pool configurations
  • Building fabric
  • Structural design and drainage
  • Building services             
  • Energy and sustainability
  • Programme of use.

Examples of individual drawing, sections and elevations

You can use the individual drawings, sections and elevations extracted from our main document as templates for your own project during its design stages. These cover the following: 

  • Option A – ground and first floor plans
  • Option B – ground and first floor plans
  • Option C – ground and first floor plans
  • Option C – sections and elevations
  • Option D – ground and first floor plans.

Affordable sports centres (50m pool)

This information, produced jointly with the Amateur Swimming Association, builds on our previous Affordable Centre models to now incorporate 50m swimming pool provision.

Our Affordable Sports Centres with Community 50m Pool Options guidance offers design and capital cost options for affordable multi-sports centres to include a 50m swimming pool, secondary pool options, sports halls and health and fitness facilities in a range of sizes. Procurement advice, business and operating models are also included.

Our short brochure summarises the key areas that are covered in more detail in the main document and appendices below.

Appendix

There's also an appendix document that you can use alongside the main guidance, which has more information on:

  • Detailed accommodation list
  • Schedule of areas
  • Further layouts of affordable sports centres with 50m pool options
  • Indicative pool configurations
  • Building fabric
  • Structural design and drainage
  • Building services
  • Energy and sustainability
  • Programme of use
  • Drawings, sections and elevations.

Examples of individual drawing, sections and elevations

As with the Affordable Sports Centres with Communtiy 25m Pool Options guidance, you can use the following layout designs to inform your own project. We cover: 

  • Option 1 – basement, first floor, ground floor and roof plans
  • Option 2 – basement, first floor, ground floor and roof plans
  • Option 3 – basement, first floor, ground floor, roof, elevation and section plans.

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