It’s also about the quality of life of people who have to move around buildings – if you are doing a large masterplan, the space between the buildings can become more important than the buildings themselves.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
When I visit beautiful places, I try and understand what makes those places successful. I’ve travelled lots and been to see buildings by some of the great modern architects of all time, which have inspired me.
I’m also driven by the idea that the
wheel needs to be reinvented every now and again. I’m very interested in how new technologies and practical innovation can improve the perform- ance of buildings. Architecture should evolve to reflect this innovation. Generally, the construction indus-
try is very conservative and slow to change. The majority of homes built in Britain today use technology we inher- ited from the Romans 2,000 years ago. Technology in house building has moved on very little in that time, yet the changes that have taken place in every other walk of life have been huge.
ISSUE 1 2013 © cybertrek 2011
n Double glazing was added, improving the energy efficiency of the centre
Sometimes you have to recognise that there are better ways of doing things.
How did you get involved with the Golden Lane Leisure Centre? We were already working for the City of London Corporation [the municipal gov- erning body of the City of London] on the Middlesex Street residential estate – doing some refurbishment work and new proposals including building a public library. We were invited to ten- der for the Golden Lane Leisure Centre refurbishment off the back of the suc- cess of that project.
Why did the centre need to be refurbished? It had been around for a long time and all buildings need to be refur- bished after 30 or 40 years of use. It needed a lot of upgrading to the fabric of the building, because of the running costs. It was all single-glazed, and very thermally inefficient. Also the City of London Corporation wanted to breathe new life into the existing complex.
What did the refurbishment project consist of? We refurbished the existing swimming pool, sports hall and changing rooms and added in a new gym and dance studio. We also created a more spa- cious reception area, and improved the circulation throughout the building. The place feels like a high quality lei- sure development rather than the very dowdy, down-at-heel, grubby place that it was before. It has been transformed. In order to make the buildings
more thermally efficient, we intro- duced double glazing to the swimming pool, badminton courts and other big spaces. This reduces energy loss and lowers heating bills.
Because it’s a Grade II listed build- ing, we had to do that in a very sympathetic way. It took a lot of care to find manufacturers of glazing sys- tems where the mullions [metal frames] were very similar in dimension to the old steel frames, for example. A lot of attention went into the detailing and selection of materials and getting approvals from the authorities with regard to the listed building consent. We also improved the overall quality of the building, with high quality col-
Read Leisure Management online
leisuremanagement.co.uk/digital 33
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