To provide a 50m, Olympic-length swimming pool, annexed onto an existing leisure facility that already housed a 25m pool. Becontree Health Leisure Centre in Barking and Dagenham is one of the UK’s most visited leisure centres, with 475,000 swims per annum. When a 25m pool was no longer able to accommodate Learn to Swim lessons and the community swimming club, a solution had to be found.
With a budget of less than £2.5m, The Council and operator required a cost- effective but high-quality and long-lasting Olympic-length pool to improve swimming opportunities for the club and the local population.
ReCreation identified wasteland at the back of the existing leisure centre and designed an above-ground, 50m swimming tank that stayed within the client’s budget. The new pool was annexed onto the existing facility and was designed to be in keeping with the original building.
ReCreation’s expertise is in building above-ground pools at a fraction of the cost of traditional build methods. It meant that this project resulted in the first permanent, Olympic-length swimming pool ever built using Modern Methods of Construction for less than 2.5m.
The final project combined a constant depth 50m pool including superstructure, plant room, changing rooms and small reception space, as well as a cutting-edge District Heating Network providing heat and power to 250+ local homes and a Civic Centre.
Contract Value: £2.5m
Client: Barking & Dagenham Council
Contractor: Ascot Services
Construction Time: 10 months
Opening Date: January 2019
