Cozenton Park Sports Centre in Rainham is a new generation leisure centre designed and built to meet exceptionally high standards of energy efficiency and sustainability, while creating much-needed recreational and fitness facilities for the people of the Medway area. Replacing a 30-year-old facility with a highly insulated but elegant exposed timber and hybrid steelwork structure, the design solution has helped meet both the client’s aspirations and a demanding schedule.
After the restrictions imposed by the Covid pandemic hastened the decision to demolish the town’s 1990 swimming pool ‘Splashes’, - with structural surveys revealing major faults which hindered any refurbishment plans - Medway Council announced its decision to build a completely new leisure complex on the same site in Rainham. Committing a total budget of £23.6 million, the Council announced plans to create a state-of-the-art, family-friendly leisure centre containing a children’s play pool with flume and beach area, as well as a fitness gym and exercise studio.
Despite Splashes being little over 30 years old, there were some serious structural issues discovered following routine surveys. In June 2021, the decision was taken to demolish it - though part of the original excavated area was utilised for the new pool, and much of the concrete was crushed on site for reuse in the rebuild as sub base and for and spread as a crane mat.
SPACE&PLACE were chosen as the architect and project manager, with Willmott Dixon appointed as main contractor, having undertaken a number of high-profile projects across Kent. Previous experience with structural timber led to the architect specifying a hybrid CLT and steelwork package for the single storey pool hall and adjoining two-storey multi-purpose building.
Structural Engineer, The Furness Partnership, were selected for the project while specialist timber engineer Engenuiti undertook much of the analysis and connection design on behalf of B&K Structures (BKS). BKS were responsible for the manufacture and installation of the structural timber and steelwork, calling on supply chain partners Stora Enso and Timber Concept to manufacture the offsite prefabricated CLT and glulam components.
Drawing on their extensive, B&K Structures designed and delivered the CLT wall panels and a series of glulam columns and beams which frame the pool hall. Additional CLT panels form the roof over the steel frame for the rest of the building, with metal decking carrying the intermediate concrete floor level.
Cozenton Park Sports Centre uses glulam columns and 1700 x 240mm beams at 5m centres, joined by steel flitch plates which enabled a clear span of 26.3m, while the CLT roof and wall construction completes an attractive backdrop for the pools’ users. 120 & 140mm thick CLT panels again form the roof deck over the adjoining wing of the centre, this time supported by a rolled steel frame.
Overall, from its distinctive roofscape to the cathedral-like timber structure which forms the pool hall, Cozenton Park Sports Centre showcases exposed timber throughout and is in the vanguard of a new generation of community leisure facilities being built across the UK.
“Reinforced concrete was never considered and the client had experienced problems with rusting steelwork within the swimming pool building this has replaced: steel in such an aggressive atmosphere can suffer very high maintenance requirements.
Personally, I never wanted to compromise on having a timber frame structure in the pool hall because of all the benefits it offers, so a hybrid timber-steel solution was the ideal choice.”
Nic Bryant
Lead Architect
SPACE&PLACE