A £50m project bringing world-class sporting and leisure facilities to Warwickshire has received a new cooling and ventilation system from Waterloo.
The Sport and Wellness Hub, which sits within the University of Warwick campus, features a multi-purpose sports arena with a 230-station gym, six glass-backed squash courts, a climbing wall and swimming pool.
As part of the multi-million pound project, air distribution products were supplied by expert manufacturers, Waterloo Air Products plc.
Branded one of the finest facilities of its kind in the UK and now officially open, the Sport and Wellness Hub was designed by Derry Building Services – one of the country’s most technically-advanced mechanical and electrical design and build contractors.
Waterloo worked with designers to deliver a high-specification, energy-efficient scheme to cope with fluctuating levels of occupancy.
Ten months before it opened in April 2019, Waterloo produced a series of intricate and bespoke products to create the right aesthetics in the state-of-the-art fitness centre.
Special attention was given to the new indoor climbing centre to ensure the correct air terminal devices were installed to give a comfortable flow of air to users. Waterloo supplied high level nozzle diffusers to supply cool air in the larger areas of the climbing centre because these could be adjusted in any direction. These are used in areas where maintaining low noise level is important.
In some areas of the Sport and Wellness Hub, which is hidden away in a tranquil woodland area of the university campus, Waterloo had to create special finishes to its grilles and colour-match powder paints to blend in with the University’s required colour scheme.
Luke Fearn, Mechanical Project Director at Derry Building Services in Birmingham, was involved with the project from the start.
He was delighted to help create the Sport and Wellness Hub within the University of Warwick campus.
Luke says:
“From the design stage in 2017, to finally completing it in March 2019, we have been excited about this unique facility. Working with Waterloo was productive and provided us with exactly what we needed to bring this project to life.
“From the beginning, Waterloo never failed to support us, and the company provided us with the exact products we needed to complete the build.
“Over the years, we have worked with Waterloo several times and we are familiar with their products. We received a good level of service.
“I thoroughly enjoyed being part of this build. I know, for sure, that the sport hub will be well-used by students on the campus and members of the public.”
Andy Wardle, Head of National Sales at Waterloo Air Products, says:
“I first got involved with the University of Warwick’s new Sport and Wellness Hub about 10 months ago along with the design team at Derry Building Services.
“Working with the design team as early as possible was a critical part of this project because it helped to deliver the customer requirements with the solution that worked and integrated with the building at its best.
“A wide range of Waterloo products were used in various area of the Sports and Wellness Hub, including the indoor climbing centre, the squash courts and areas within the changing rooms.
“In the indoor climbing centre, care was taken to ensure the correct air terminal device was used to give a comfortable flow of air for the climbers using nozzle diffusers for supply at high level along with low level extract linear bar grilles which had additional support to help stop damage from light foot traffic.
“It was really interesting because we manufactured panels with our SDVSA type swirls in to match the special acoustic panels that had been designed by the architect and the client wanted to see dimensionally the same units across the ceiling plate for continuity and visual affect whilst still offering a working solution to the correct air flow for the many people who were using the equipment.”
Lisa Dodd-Mayne, Director of Sports and Active Communities at the University of Warwick, says:
“We believe the hub will be one of the finest facilities of its kind in the UK.
“At the University of Warwick, we have a vision to ensure that we have the most active community in the UK.
“That’s why we’re investing £49m into sport and wellness across the university, with our new Sport and Wellness Hub as the sporting centre of campus.”