sustainability
Riverside Leisure Centre
With its Very Good BREEAM rating, low carbon technology and airtight detailing, the new leisure centre leaves minimal impact on the environment.
WITH an overall project cost of £40m, Riverside Leisure Centre is Chelmsford City Council’s biggest ever single investment in a project for the community. The scheme is part of the redevelopment of the riverside area by the council to create a gateway to the city centre. The energy-efficient complex, which was
built to provide the city’s residents with access to fit-for-purpose facilities, replaces the old leisure centre, which is subject to demolition. The independent property, construction and infrastructure consultancy Pick Everard delivered all the design and costing services for the scheme. Appointed by the City Council in spring 2016 through a competitive negotiated tender procurement process, their brief was to: • Provide quality swimming pools and associated facilities representing the best principles of functionality, efficiency and sustainability
• Consider a facility capable of matching the future demands of the city and its leisure ambitions
• Ensure a programme for a pool and associated facilities that is deliverable within 3.5 years
• Ensure continuity of service for swimming throughout the construction period
• Provide imaginative, affordable design that enhances and integrates with the existing facilities and the wider site
• Create a flagship leisure gateway into Chelmsford city centre – which considers sustainable design principles
green legacy High environmental performance and lifecycle costs have been a central element of the detailed design. “The old Riverside was built in the early
1960s and was inefficient compared to the buildings of today. It was therefore important for the council to provide high-quality facilities that would serve the city sustainably and cleanly for the next 60 years, while also reducing running costs and minimising its environmental impact,” says Keith Prendergast, director at Pick Everard. Riverside Leisure Centre’s BREEAM ‘very
good’ rating puts the leisure complex in the top 25 per cent of new non-domestic buildings in the UK for environmentally friendly design, while also contributing to significantly reducing running costs. Smart sensors have been incorporated,
which monitor the weather outside and control the heating accordingly. LED bulbs, which turn off automatically when rooms are not in use, are also controlled by sensors and illuminate the complex depending on the daylight hours. The centre uses a combined heat and power
unit that was relocated from the old centre to generate a proportion of its own electricity. As it does this, it produces heat, which is used to supply hot water for the pool, showers, taps and heating systems. If extra heat is required, modulating ‘smart’ gas boilers are used to meet demand. Underfloor heating throughout the ground floor provides efficient background heating and helps warm and dry the floors in the changing areas. Recent measured data shows that the relocated combined heat and power unit has generated an average daily 2,960kWhrs of power, while generating 4,928kWhrs of thermal energy, which is used as ‘waste heat’ serving the pool and hot water systems. This element alone provides significant return on investment and reduces bottom line utility costs. Attractive landscaping and improved paths
also encourage sustainable transport by helping people to walk or cycle to their activity of choice.
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