Blackburn College Leisure Centre
Overview
The joint project between Blackburn with Darwen Council and Blackburn College provides students and residents swimming pools but also a larger fitness suite, a dance/ aerobics studio, sauna and steam room and two sports halls.
The design included:
- Six lane, 25-metre pool
- A learner small pool, screenable for single gender use with a moveable floor
- Two aqua-catchers
- Children’s water play zone
- An 80 station fitness suite
- A sports science lab for college useA dance/aerobics studio with a sprung floor
- Sauna and steam rooms
- Two four-court sports halls for college use with public use from 6pm and during weekends and holidays
Awards
Considerate Constructors 2015 Bronze Award
Videos
To watch a youtube video of Rebecca Adlington opening the new centre please follow this link: Blackburn College | Blackburn Sports & Leisure Centre Opening with Rebecca Adlington
136.5 Work opportunity weeks created 
100% Waste recycled 
80% Local workforce 
42/50 Considerate Constructors score
Key Challenges
There were a number of key challenges on this project which included working around a live college environment and coordinating our works to ensure minimum disruption to the existing facilities.
The boundary to the site was extremely tight and next to a live BT fibre owned by the Council. The scheme was phased with the sports hall handed over first to allow curriculum activities and exams.
The ground conditions were challenging and we had to coordinate our works to avoiding existing piles.
There was also an existing live substation on the site which we accommodated whilst it was being decommissioned. The project was a joint venture between Blackburn College and Blackburn with Darwen Council with a number of end users and it was important we met the needs of all parties involved.
Added Value
Through our previous experience on swimming pools we were able to recommend an alternative waterproof concrete which similarly is more resilient to this harsh setting.
We also changed the specification of the polycarbonate roof lights, which not only was a cost saving to the project, but a saving on the life cycle of the building.
During the project we contributed to the Blackburn College “Student of the Year” award.