new
opening
london leisure
T
he Hillingdon Sports and Leisure Complex in Uxbridge, west London, has undoubtedly been one of London’s most talked about leisure projects in
recent years. It was over 10 years in the planning, took more than two years to complete, came with a £31m price tag, offers the capital’s first new Olympic-
sized indoor and outdoor swimming pools in decades, and involved the logistical intricacies of working with Grade II-listed buildings. After being given the green light in
September 2007, the complex was offi cially opened by London mayor Boris Johnson on 23 March, and the outdoor pool was unveiled just under two months later on 20 May.
Shoshana Kazab
provides an in-depth look at the new Hillingdon Sports
and Leisure Complex
The complex stands on the original
site of the Uxbridge Lido, as it was affectionately known by local residents, which was built in 1935 and which closed after falling into disrepair in 1998. Since then, the council has been working on developing the site in order to once again offer the local community a leisure and sports facility it could be proud of.
design challenges
The project was funded by a number of different parties, including a sizeable £26m from Hillingdon Borough Council’s Capital Programme, £2.25m from the London Development Agency (LDA), £1m from the Heritage Lottery Fund – which went towards the refurbishment of the Grade II-listed open-air pool – and £1.5m from Sport England. Although the complex was built, in part,
with the 2012 Olympic Games in mind, the project had been planned before it had been announced that London had won the Olympic bid. London had not had an Olympic-sized indoor swimming pool in almost 40 years – this is the fi rst since Crystal Palace in the 1960s – but the Hillingdon Sports and Leisure Complex provided the ideal opportunity to create a pool of this size: the site already featured the Grade II-listed outdoor Lido, which has been restored to its former glory as part of the project. As architects, FaulknerBrowns had
their work cut out for them, as they were required to incorporate the existing Grade II-listed buildings into the new complex. This included the outdoor pool,
The swimming pool at Hillingdon is London’s fi rst Olympic- sized pool since Crystal Palace opened in the 1960s
36 Read Health Club Management online at
healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital june 2010 © cybertrek 2010
PHOTO © IMARY TURNER
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76