Going for gold

When installing sports centres at independent schools, there are a number of critical factors that can mean the difference between success and failure. John Cadman profiles three projects that took the time to get the brief right

Tonbridge School
A new £11.2 million Centre for Sports and Media at Tonbridge School was officially opened by Olympic champion and chair of the London 2012 Organising Committee Board, Lord Coe, in June 2008. The project at this top UK independent boy’s school was funded by the school with assistance from the Tonbridge School Foundation.

The centre provides a hub for sport, rejuvenates the school’s indoor facilities and has a state-of-the-art media centre. Together with the outstanding outdoor facilities that already exist, it helps to reinforce the school’s reputation for excellence. A key objective for the new centre was to engender a sense of pride, welcoming members of the community who come to support their children in their sporting endeavours or use the facilities themselves.

A dedicated social area is provided for people to mingle and interact. To make sure that the centre reflected the ethos of the school and was fit-for-purpose, a great deal of time was spent with the users. This enabled the project team to understand the school’s objectives as well as the priorities, so that the budget could be optimised.

As a result of this exercise, the principal facilities at the centre include:
• a media suite with control room, edit suite and studio. The swimming pool and sports hall have a CCTV system
for recording and learning to aid performance;
• a five-court sports hall, suitable for badminton, basketball, hockey and football, as well as five lanes of indoor
cricket nets;
• a challenging climbing wall that includes overhangs and natural features, which means that boys of all levels of ability are able to experience climbing;
• 25m, six-lane swimming pool, with depths varying from 1.2m to 3m, which is suitable for teaching, galas, water polo and training. The purpose-built 3m-deep end means that boys are able to train towards BSAC sub-aqua qualifications;
• a multi-purpose studio with sprung wooden floor, suitable for martial arts, fencing and fitness classes of up to 60 people or for functions – this is supported by a kitchen area;
• a fitness suite, equipped by Life Fitness, with 30 stations, comprising a mix of cardio-vascular and resistance
equipment, together with free weights;
• eight group changing areas for dry sports and a wet changing area for the pool, as well as a baby-changing area
for community use;
• café and terrace areas, overlooking the athletics track and sports pitches;
• a bar with views of the school’s playing fields;
• a classroom adjacent to the athletics track; and
• offices for administration, pool, athletics and fitness assessments, as well as a first aid room.

Limbrick Ltd designed the building which is distinctive and futuristic, incorporating a roof that gives the appearance of
three waves moving from south to north, with vivid colour contrasts. It was built in 15 months, project managed by
CM Parker Browne, part of Synergy Property & Construction LLP, and constructed by R Durtnell and Sons.

Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council recently recognised the quality of project awarding the contractor a Built in Quality award, and the team has also been nominated for a national Build in Quality award.

The new Centre for Sports and Media is a landmark in national sporting provision and was an integral part of the successful bid by Tonbridge School to be recognised as an official training centre for the 2012 Olympics. With easy
access to the main East London Olympic site and four years to go before the 2012 Olympics, Tonbridge is in a good
position to attract overseas Olympic teams to the school for training.

Team credits:
Client: Tonbridge School
Project managers: CM Parker Browne,
part of Synergy Construction & Property LLP
Cost consultants: Bristow Johnson & Partners
Architects: Limbrick Ltd
Contractors: R Durtnell and Sons
Structural engineers: Capita Bobrowski
Services engineers: TPS Consult
Highways engineers: Stuart Michael Associates

The Leys and St Faith’s Foundation
A £750,000 scheme enabled The Leys and St Faith’s Foundation in Cambridge to enhance its sports facilities for both senior and prep students. The project was delivered in two phases over a four-year period. The schools’ requirements were for additional synthetic grass pitches and improved athletics facilities.

The first stage of the project was the construction of a new block of four synthetic grass tennis courts with short pile, sand-filled carpet, which can also be used for netball and hockey practice. A sand-dressed, synthetic grass hockey pitch that is used for tennis in the summer, and synthetic long jump/triple jump run-ups plus a pit and a high jump fan, with a polymeric rubber surface completed the project.

All the facilities were designed following thorough consultation with both schools and were project managed by John Cadman Associates from conception to completion.

Team credits:
Client: The Leys and St Faith’s Foundation
Project managers: John Cadman Associates,
part of Synergy Construction & Property LLP
Architects: John Cadman Associates,
part of Synergy Construction & Property LLP

Dauntsey’s School
Dauntsey’s School had a budget of £550,000 to improve its existing facilities. The key to the design solution was flexibility, allowing pitches to be used for different sports during light and dark hours.

Close collaboration with the bursar and PE department helped shape the school’s exact requirements, enabling the design of optimum surfaces and ensuring the project completed within budget and in time for the new school term. A two-phase project was undertaken: phase one, to resurface the existing sand-filled, synthetic grass pitch to FIH Performance Specification for Standard International and National Competitions. This pitch is used for hockey but can be adapted to accommodate nine tennis courts when required. Phase two, a new sand-dressed pitch, also to FIH standards, has been provided for hockey along with a warm-up/practice area adjacent to the new pitch, using the
same type of surface. Goal recesses for cross-pitch games and floodlighting were also incorporated into this pitch.

Team credits:
Client: Dauntsey’s School
Project managers: John Cadman Associates, part of Synergy Construction & Property LLP
Architects: John Cadman Associates, part of Synergy Construction & Property LLP

John Cadman is the founder of John Cadman Associates, a sports surface specialist that is part of Synergy Property & Construction LLP.

Return to Planning