Morgan Sindall Construction breaks ground at landmark London leisure centre
Morgan Sindall Construction’s London business has held a ground-breaking ceremony at the Woolwich Leisure Centre, marking an exciting construction milestone for one of the UK’s largest leisure sector projects.
On 8th June, Morgan Sindall’s project team and Area Director for London, Richard Dobson, joined Leader of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, Cllr Anthony Okereke, Cllr Aidan Smith, Cllr Adel Khaireh and pupils from Plumstead Manor Schoolto celebrate the start of the centre’s construction.
To highlight the important role this brand-new facility will play in Woolwich’s community and to inspire the area’s next generation into sport, the ground-breaking event was attended by local professional cricketer Phoebe Franklin.
Located in the heart of Woolwich town centre, the 12,800m sq, three-storey facility is set to become one of the country’s largest urban leisure centres when it opens in 2025.
The project is being delivered through the Southern Construction Framework (SCF), a quality-managed collaborative construction framework for public bodies to procure major building works, using a two-stage open book process to deliver best value.
The new leisure centre is a key part of the Royal Borough of Greenwich’s ambitious regeneration plans for Woolwich. Morgan Sindall has worked closely with the Council to design and develop a centre that will provide the local community with opportunities to get more active, including people with disabilities and those with dementia. Due to the confined nature of the site, the Morgan Sindall team is delivering a stacked solution with sports hall, gym and cardio rooms on the upper floor.
Thanks to our Intelligent Solutions approach, the centre will benefit from a world class fit out, including anti-vibration steelwork to ensure the best performance across all floors. This is similar in design to the Britannia Leisure Centre in Hackney, which Morgan Sindall completed in 2022.
The new centre will provide Woolwich with first class sports facilities, supporting families, young people and adults to live active, healthy lifestyles. The facilities will include three swimming pools for various uses, wet changing facilities, spa and relaxation areas, two spin studios, two high-specification gym areas, a five-a-side 3G pitch, multi-use sports hall, two squash courts and Woolwich’s first indoor cricket facilities.
The centre will also feature flexible and accessible community spaces, along with a commercial café, kitchen, creche, and soft play area as well as two studios that will be linked to the neighbouring Tramshed theatre and community arts hub. The rooftop carries the planted green roof and 1,700m sq. of photovoltaic (PV) panels to generate sustainable power for the leisure centre. The building is targeting a BREEAM Outstanding rating, which will make it only the second leisure centre in the country of this standard.
In line with our commitment to delivering social value to the communities in which it operates, local people and supply chain will be utilised and the team are planning to create a Knowledge Quad as part of the development. This will educate the next generation of local people in the area about the construction industry, showcasing the huge benefits of a career in the sector.
Morgan Sindall will also be engaging with local schools to welcome work experience students onto site. This follows the success of the Britannia Leisure Centre in Hackney, where the project team delivered £78m in social value.
Morgan Sindall is working alongside FaulknerBrowns Architects, Buro Happold Engineers, Hadron Consulting, property and construction consultants Gleeds and Van Zyl & de Villiers in the delivery of Woolwich Leisure Centre.
Richard Dobson, Area Director at Morgan Sindall Construction in London, said: “Morgan Sindall understands the important role that leisure facilities play in not just bringing communities together, but in providing a strong health and wellbeing foundation for the next generation. We are delighted to be providing Woolwich with one of the best leisure facilities in the country, tailored to meet the demands of the local area.
“The team have worked closely with the Royal Borough of Greenwich over the last two and half years to get to construction commencing. It is great to invite the community and key stakeholders on to site for the ground breaking as we get with underway with the construction work.”
Cllr Aidan Smith, Cabinet Member for Regeneration at the Royal Borough of Greenwich, said: “It's exciting to see construction start on such a significant Council regeneration scheme, and especially to mark the ground breaking with Plumstead Manor School and Phoebe Franklin. This will provide the local community with a top quality facility, designed with sustainability and accessibility at its core.
"I'm pleased to see Morgan Sindall Construction giving local schools the chance to showcase how construction works to their pupils and working with the Greenwich Local Labour and Business (GLLaB) team to help residents take up job opportunities and apprenticeships at the site. This is so important, ensuring the local community benefits throughout construction and beyond.
"The scheme has already seen us unveil major refurbishments at the historic Tramshed, a much-loved community resource. It’s also going to create around 500 much needed new homes, shops, places to eat and attractive public spaces. . It’s just one of the exciting schemes coming forward in Woolwich which will create a thriving town centre and help our residents look after their health and wellbeing.”