NEW CLADDING SERVES AN ACE FOR LEISURE CENTRE

New construction materials are allowing architects, specifiers and developers create distinctive buildings that both look good and are highly durable. Profiled metal cladding systems can help achieve impactful designs and has made a leisure centre in Cornwall the talk of the town.

Passers-by at the Dragon Leisure Centre in Bodmin only need to look up to the building’s roof to discover that tennis is on offer inside. Yet the promotion techniques at this Cornwall facility are far more subtle than advertising banners flapping around in the wind. The roof has been designed so that it imitates a tennis court, when it is viewed in its entirety.

The Dragon Leisure Centre has always been one for firsts. Built in 1988, it was the first facility in Cornwall to include indoor tennis courts. The illusion on the roof, complete with what looked like nets, raised a few eyebrows when it was created. According to locals, the tennis net was the talk of the town for some time.

But 20 years on, what was once the jewel in Cornwall’s sporting crown was beginning to fade. The building was having problems with condensation and a number of leaks were developing. The roof was in serious need of replacement. The exterior finish, complete with its tennis court illusion, had started to deteriorate.

While the leisure centre management team were keen to retain the dramatic roof effects, all accepted that refurbishment was required. Modern metal cladding was selected as a way to recreate the original concept, but with a 21st century edge, dynamically transforming the leisure centre’s identity.

The existing roof, which featured a duopitch roof incorporating cranked curved eaves, a barrel vault ridge with a cranked curved sheet, was stripped and re-clad using Euroclad’s Elite System 1.25 in Corus Colorcoat HPS200®. The cladding was specified in a combination of colours including Moorland Green and Olive Green. The combination of colours with the specialist curved eaves and two metre high ridge detail retained the original impression of a tennis net.

Derek Putt, of the contractors Clegg and Shortman said: “Before we started work, the building looked tired and clearly needed updating. It is a project that we can be really proud of because Dragon Leisure Centre is set in a valley and the building can be seen from many vantage points”.

Development:		Big Yellow
Location:		Branches Nationwide
Architect:		Mountford Piggott
Main contractor:		Various
Euroclad installer:		Various