An increasing trend

More schools and academies are opening managed gyms and sports centres; generating income and providing facilities for members of the local community to keep active.

Research commissioned by Sport England, shows education sites are key providers of sports nationwide. Over a third (39 per cent) of all facilities and 77 per cent of sports halls are located on school, college and university sites. In addition, 62 per cent of school sports facilities across England are now available for some form of community use.

The government announced last year that it would be investing £415m in facilities to support sports, after-school activities and promoting healthy eating, to help secure the future health of young people.

With this funding due to become available over the next two years, and the demand for communal gyms rising, we expect to see more schools across the UK begin to follow this increasing trend.

Modular construction – a smart choice

With many educational establishments located in residential neighbourhoods and the school remaining a live teaching environment, off-site is often the only method of creating new, or extending existing facilities, without causing major disruption to the community or students.

Offsite offers minimal disruption to the operation of the facility and the local community by cutting down the number of deliveries to site. With transportation and onsite trades reduced, there is less traffic and noise impact.

Many sectors benefit from this modern method of construction beyond sports halls, fitness suites, changing rooms, indoor courts, and offices.

Advantages include:

• Speed - there are not the delays associated with traditional construction since often up to 80 - 90 per cent of the work can be completed in a factory.
• a quality controlled environment unaffected by the weather.
• modular buildings are designed and built to an exacting specification, with a wide range of finishes and roofing options that fit seamlessly alongside any existing structures.
• offsite manufacturing creates a safer workplace, as it is a more controlled environment requiring less need for working at height.
• it is more economical and better for the environment, with a dramatic reduction in waste and the consumption of materials such as cement -compared to traditional build methods.

Case study - Ashville college in Harrogate

The architects created a seamless link with the existing college campus, with Caledonian utilising 3D visuals at the early design stages.

Ashville college was a challenging project, on a very precise footprint, with the new sports complex positioned between existing buildings, and being a boarding school, with a live campus, encircled by a residential neighbourhood.

As a result, the accuracy of design and installation were key factors taken into account before the college chose our off-site solution. There was also a very strict timescale amongst other contractual obligations, all of which were achieved on time, within budget and before the new school term began. This meant minimal disruption to the staff, pupils and the general running of the school.

Our design and site management teams worked very closely with the college at tender and post order stage to help identify opportunities to reduce timescales, including weekly progress reviews against milestones for the duration of the project. In the end the entire project, from start to finish, took a total of just 20 weeks to complete.

Site design

With a striking design featuring a projecting entrance pod, and a large, open area gymnasium space with full height windows to maximise natural light, we pushed the boundaries of what can be achieved by off-site construction.

The ground floor comprises a new reception and waiting area, new changing areas, office, treatment room, accessible changing facilities and further WCs.

A full service

In addition to the offsite manufacture, delivery and installation of the new sports complex, we provided a full turnkey service including demolition and ground-works. An existing tower on site was demolished and replaced with a new stair tower, with a second tower being constructed to provide access to the new first floor. These independent sections are clad in vertical timber cladding to contrast with the existing stonework.

In summary

Modern off-site systems, like that delivered at Ashville College, offer significant potential to reduce build schedules, make budgets go further and minimise construction waste, all of which means it will play a significant part in delivering the government’s strategy for improved health and fitness within the UK. High quality, value for money sports facilities are emerging that not only help to improve fitness in pupils and the rest of the community, but also help to generate a much needed extra income for our educational establishments.