The Grand Tour

SPACE&PLACE (S&P) have been designing sport, leisure and entertainment facilities for over 40 years. We have designed buildings and work with partners all over the country. Part of our commitment to designing spaces and places for human beings is to ensure we remain up to date with the demands of our sector. Not just our clients, contractors and suppliers but also the end user – the consumer. Natalie McGuire, Director of Business Development and Engagement, alongside Dan Taylor, architect, took this mission literally when they stepped into the mind of the consumer on part one of a UK Tour to see some of our buildings in action.

On a mission to better understand the customer journey post completion, Natalie and Dan set some clear objectives for the tour: 

Natalie joined S&P in June coming from an operator background and Dan is a long-time member of the S&P team with an architect’s background. The Tour was set to expand their individual understandings of beautiful facility design through the other’s eyes.   

Day 1

The weeklong tour started in Luton with a visit to Inspire Luton Sports Village a building opened in 2012 and clearly well loved by the local community. Operated by Active Luton, The design of Luton’s flagship facility for sport in a high-quality project to promote civic pride and reflect both the long-term investment in the building and in the growth in sports participation.  The combination of traditional and modern materials used in a contemporary manner create a striking building with a sense of solidity and permanence, whilst offering an open, inviting aspect to encourage participation. 

The facility clearly delivered on its initial objectives. The gym and swimming pool were in heavy use during the visit with several schools and community groups using the building. It was clear from the visit the staff take great pride in their work and have maximised the space available to them. The health and wellbeing offer was strong and apparent as the tour developed. The building boasts a 50m swimming pool including movable floor, a 20mx10m community pool, dry diving centre, sports hall, gym, studios, function room and café alongside outdoor football and cricket pitches.  

Next stop on the visit was Westminster Lodge in St Albans. A replacement facility for an outdated building in the area this design has become a hub destination in the parkland, with its’ integrated wet and dry sports facilities for public use. Packed full of life, the building was a hive of activity with all spaces being used to their full potential. A rich mix of swimming, gym, studio, play and dwell spaces including café, climbing wall and soft play, the facility is truly at the heart of the community. Westminster Lodge, operated by Everyone Active also benefits from an award-winning Spa offering which certainly enhances this facility from traditional public leisure to offer an elevated bespoke experience.  

Finally, the day finished with a visit to the newly opened Chiltern Lifestyle Centre.  Replacing the old Chiltern pools complex, the scheme has been conceived to provide modern updated accommodation for the Drake Hall community building, the library and the youth club / children’s nursery buildings currently on the site.  The main ethos behind the scheme is collocation and the benefits of locating complimentary activities together such as U3A and libraries and perhaps exercise studios.  Swimming pools and clip and climb will also work well with soft play and extensive cafe facilities.  

This facility, operated again by Everyone Active, is an absolute masterclass in community wellbeing and connectivity. The whole building was being utilised, from the library, to café, to climbing wall and swimming pools. Taking advantage of a tour with an expert with Everyone Active, it was clear from the offset that this building is jam packed full of wellbeing opportunity for all. The long promenade design is truly inclusive, offering something for everyone as the customer passes through the building, ultimately ending their journey with the leisure facility. The community influence in the design and use of the building is clear from the very start. Children were making the most of the outdoor play zone at the entrance, a ladies only group were enjoying a coffee and cake in the café, a reading club was in full swing in the library and a learn to climb club was just warming up at the climbing mats. Each unit was working cooperatively to ensure the experience for the user was enjoyable and likely to result in a repeat visit. One of the key aspects of this design that guaranteed close working relationships was the shared staff area, a hub to bring each employee to a central point for connectivity, socialisation and sharing.  

Day 3

Working their way along the south coast, day 3 took the team to Plymouth to visit Plymouth Life Centre, operated by Plymouth Active. Another very busy facility consisting of gym space, studios, bowling green, a 50m swimming pool, play zones, café, climbing centres and theatre this is a much used and well-loved community facility. No space was empty during the visit as the local communities took advantage of the immense wellbeing offering available at Plymouth Life Centre. The glorious UK sunshine lit up the reception area through the large glazing at the front of the building and the sound of children laughing filled the pool hall as schools, preschool groups and aquafit enjoyed their swim time. Another great example of community wellbeing at its best. 

Day 4

Finally, as the tour nears the end, Natalie and Dan couldn’t go all that way without visiting the world’s first Passivehaus leisure centre, St. Sidwell’s Point in Exeter.  Designed by S&P, working in conjunction with the Passivehaus Institute in Germany, this is an innovation master class. Pushing the boundaries of energy efficiency, Exeter Council, have pioneered in this space for over a decade. Commissioning S&P to support their ‘future climate ready’ plans, S&P took a holistic approach to the space design which included orienting the pool hall glazing southwards to maximise solar gain, an orientation the University of Exeter believes will work best under future climate scenarios. By contrast, the dry areas of the centre work best with north facing glazing as they are more likely to overheat in summer. Our spatial planning considered this together with the relative temperature of adjacent rooms and actively reduced heat loss by minimising the adjacency of high and low temperature rooms. Use of simultaneous heating and cooling air-source heat pumps also means that hot air from the gym and studios can be used to offset heat loss in the pool area – a major source of expense. 

The building was indeed a spectacle. From the gold exterior to the calm sensory experience internally, this building is a complex and efficient example of what can be achieved with the right vision and a commitment to investment in the future. Opened in 2022 and operated by the council, the building management system is already reporting efficiencies beyond initial targets and has outperformed in nearly all metrics. From both a design and operational perspective this building is setting the standard for the future of leisure.  

Where next? 

Part 1 of the tour has ended but Natalie has big plans to view even more of S&P facilities in the North, the West Coast, Scotland and London. Taking advantage of the expertise of the architect team and working with local partners the aim is to improve our understanding of design and the impact this has on the user experience.