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Portsmouth’s Mountbatten Leisure Centre has been crowned
‘Best of the Best’ at Kalzip’s recent Teamkal Conference and
awards ceremony. An external panel of distinguished judges
described the impressive new sports facility as, “A
beautifully conceived and detailed project demonstrating
excellent use of Kalzip in a curved application.” |
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Designed by Saunders Architects LLP and being operated by
Parkwood Community Leisure, the Mountbatten Leisure Centre
project was funded by Portsmouth City Council and Sport
England. |
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The striking new leisure
facility was built by Kier Southern with Gable (UK) Ltd the
award-winning Approved Teamkal Contractor. |
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Gable installed over 3,200 sqm
of smooth curved standard stucco embossed Kalzip sheets and
2,000 sqm of Kalzip structural decking sheets on the
intriguingly designed facilty. The main Kalzip roof over the
pool hall measures 30 metres from eaves to ridge and
comprises convex curved and concave curved sheets which were
site-welded together to create the continuous wave curve.
The roof is supported on a framework of structural steel and
a series of beautiful glulam beams with a matching liner to
help create a welcoming environment for the swimmers. |
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The elongated tubular Kalzip
roof encases a state-of-the-art gymnasium located on the
first floor over the leisure centre’s main entrance,
reception and café bar. The tightly curved Kalzip sheets of
varying radii are affixed to Kalzip structural decking
sheets - Kalzip’s vapour control layer and thermal
insulation completes a roof build-up which achieves a
minimum U-value of 0.20 W/m²K. Three very large areas of
vertical glazing are neatly integrated into the north face
of the tubular roof to ensure that the gymnasium area enjoys
plenty of natural daylight. |
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Sitting between and effectively
‘joining’ the Kalzip roofs is a steeply-pitched continuous
northlight glazing system that shares a central valley
gutter with the gymnasium’s tubular Kalzip roof and
introduces natural daylight into the pool area. Saunders
Architects has very cleverly linked the two main sections of
the leisure centre together by using smooth curved
perforated Kalzip sheets in the pool hall immediately below
the northlight glazing system. This creates the illusionary
effect that the tightly curved external Kalzip roof over the
gymnasium has been continued inside the pool hall. Visually
it has, but instead of being weather sheets, these
perforated Kalzip sheets form an internal façade complete
with special acoustic insulation to satisfy the acoustic
requirements. |
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Operational since May 2009, the
Mountbatten Leisure Centre with its 50 metre pool, training
pool and gymnasium was officially opened by the Princess
Royal on 22nd October. |
