Britannia Leisure Centre

Hackney Council is constructing a state-of-the art leisure centre next to Shoreditch Park, as part of a wider masterplan which includes a new secondary school and hundreds of new homes - including 81 for social rent and shared ownership. The leisure centre has been designed by FaulknerBrowns Architects and will replace the existing Britannia Leisure Centre, which will remain open until the new centre is complete. The new leisure centre will include a six-lane, 25m main pool; training pool; leisure water area; a six-court sports hall; four squash courts; fitness suite; exercise studios; creche and soft play area; and a café which will be available to Shoreditch Park users. In addition, there are two tennis courts and two 5-a-side football pitches located on the roof of the building. The design proposal represents a considered approach to the horizontal layering of the required leisure facilities. Minimising the building’s overall footprint in this way has allowed for a new public square to be created on the northern edge of the site. This animated civic space between the leisure centre and proposed residential buildings acts as a welcoming new gateway into Shoreditch Park, ensuring maximum visibility of the leisure centre and park. The external skin of the building reinforces the building’s plan. The visually dynamic pool halls, café, fitness suite, exercise studios and soft play areas are positioned on the external perimeter of the plan so that they are all highly visible from the new square, Pitfield Street and Shoreditch Park, whilst the cellular changing accommodation is positioned in its heart. This strategy encourages participation in sport and creates an active building frontage to the surrounding context. The elegant and robust external envelope has been designed to bring legible order to the layered arrangement of the internal sports spaces. The systematic envelope design is executed with a neutral colour palette and measured material selection. This allows the internal sports spaces and occupants to provide the colour, character and animation to the building elevations. The principles of inclusivity and accessibility have played a significant role in the design strategy for the new centre. In developing the changing facilities the design team has consulted closely with Project Indigo, Hackney Council’s LGBTQ youth group and counselling service for primarily young people in need of advice or support, on matters of gender and sex. As a result the toilet and changing accommodation within the wet and dry changing areas has been designed to provide choice. Visitors are able to select the environment which best suits their needs, from individual wet and dry changing accommodation, with dedicated showers and toilets in the dry changing areas, to group changing facilities. This approach sets a new benchmark for inclusive changing facilities in a public facility of this type. Britannia Leisure Centre is an exciting and new interpretation of civic sports, providing the most modern facilities within a design that is both pragmatic and proud, equipped to serve Hackney for many generations to come. https://www.better.org.uk/leisure-centre/london/hackney/britannia-leisure-centre.