Wilmslow High School
Wilmslow High School
The Challenge
To reconcile design specifications from a secondary school looking to boost their provision of physical education and accommodate a growing number of students with local council requirements for enhancing local community sport.
The Solution
A cutting-edge sports barn that can accommodate multiple activities including tennis, netball and badminton with a polyurethane playing surface that is versatile enough to be used for intense sporting activity as well as non-sporting events such as assemblies and exams.
Key facts
- 36m x 40m x 11m
- Galvanised steel framework
- LED Lighting to 600 LUX
- Groundworks included for future dome extension
- Full length sliding curtains
Multi-sport facilities that can accommodate a wide range of activities can also encourage the development of local and national teams who need a home so they can thrive. This project with Cefn Hengoed Community School in Swansea is the result of collaboration between different sporting organisations, including the Welsh FA and RFU that will benefit pupils but also become a centre for growing grassroots sport when school is closed.
With so many stakeholders involved, our bespoke approach to design really paid dividends as we were able to develop a structural solution that could accommodate the requirements of multiple sports and multiple standards of play. This wasn’t the main challenge though. Our biggest hurdles, as always, were the great British weather. For weeks, we were forced to delay pulling the cover across due to high winds, but we made sure this wasn’t time wasted. The team remined on site and we did what we could to stick to the programme and continue making progress.
The unique building is already starting to have a positive impact on the sporting culture in Swansea and with such a fantastic, accessible indoor multi-sport facility, our weather no longer needs to be a hurdle to the growth of sporting participation in this area.
The new community hub has strengthened links between the school, residents and families.
Cllr Stewart said: “‘These new facilities are absolutely fantastic and I’m really proud that we’ve been able to deliver the largest ever investment in sports facilities in the Eastside of Swansea. They are already improving incredibly popular with girls and boys football teams, as well as many other grassroots sports clubs, making the most of the new indoor sports barn with many evening and weekend sessions fully booked when not in use by the school.
The use of the leisure centre has also more than doubled with a hugely improved offering and extended opening times.”
Carl Bale, headteacher at Cefn Hengoed Community School said: “The new facilities have been transformational for the staff and pupils. Children have enjoyed using the new indoor 3G pitch, with a measurable impact on the health and wellbeing of our learners.”
Swansea Council’s Cabinet Member for Investment, Regeneration, Events and Tourism, Robert Francis Davies: “These new facilities are up there with anything else in Wales and are just the latest in our commitment to improve sports facilities in all our communities
This is the largest ever investment in community sports and leisure facilities in the Eastside of Swansea and they are second to none. I’m hugely impressed with what has been created at Cefn Hengoed. It is going to be a game changer for pupils, grassroots sports clubs and the wider community.”
Freedom Leisure’s area manager, Gwyn Owen, added: “We are really looking forward to operating these fabulous new facilities that will benefit the local residents and the wider Swansea community, offering amazing opportunities for people to positively improve their health and wellbeing.”
