The Golden Lane Leisure Centre is an ‘L’ shaped building, built around a quadrangle. The centre combines two formerly separated buildings; one of which houses the swimming pool and badminton court, while the other is a single-storey club.
The renovation has modernised the facility to the contemporary standards and requirements. The company has redeveloped the swimming pool, badminton court and changing rooms, inserted a new gym and dance studio and developed a new, fully accessible, reception area and circulation routes.
Cartwright has redesigned the old facility in a way that it retained its original character, while adding modern standards for access, health and safety and environmental performance. The design team has reinstated the transparency of the swimming pool enclosure and withheld the original concrete vaults of the club rooms.
Cartwright has designed a new entrance for the facility, which in addition to being larger than the former, grants internal access to all areas of the building. The entrance has a reception area, which faces towards the entrance. A new staff room has been added near the reception area.
The reception and the new gym, located at the vaulted club rooms, are connected through a new circulation route. It features the building’s original pavement lights and uses them to bring in natural daylight into the inner spaces. The company has installed a new changing room near the gym, which add to the convenience.
The space between the swimming pool and the sports hall has been converted into a dance studio, which is marked by full glazed walls enclosure, maximising its transparency and reducing its visual impact on the original building.
The original glazing of the building was swapped with a modern double glazing, which has improved thermal efficiency of the building by improving the degree of insulation, and reducing energy loss. This has resulted in a dent in the utility bills of the buildings. The colours and details of the new glazing, mimics the building’s original glazing.
Quinn London provided construction services on the scheme.
