A £16m sports centre will be built at The University of Central Lancashire (UCL) in Preston to provide new sporting facilities to its students and to local children during the school holidays. The new complex will feature a sprung timber sports hall with more than 300 retractable bleacher seats and a viewing gallery, able to accommodate regional and national sporting events, conventions, exhibitions and academic examinations. Activity studios, squash courts,

Meadowside Leisure Centre in Burton, Staffordshire, is set to undergo a major transformation. East Staffordshire Borough Council has revealed its initial plans and artists' impressions, produced by Maber Architects, of how the revamped leisure facility will look when it reopens in summer 2010. The £5m scheme includes a refurbishment of the gym with upgraded equipment and studio facilities, improvements to toilets and changing rooms and the introduction of a new

Scott Hall Leisure Centre in Leeds is to undergo a £0.41m redevelopment, thanks to a grant from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The grant, sourced from the Free Swimming Capital Modernisation Programme award, will fund the conversion of the centre's existing squash courts into an extended Bodyline Gym area to accommodate a further 17 pieces of equipment. The move is expected to boost net income by around

Plans for the £48m development of a new leisure complex on the site of the Tropicana centre in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, have been put on hold until early 2010 due to the recession. The Lifestation@Tropicana project, which was approved by North Somerset Council's (NSC) West Area planning committee in October, had been set to get underway later this year as part of a wider scheme to revamp the town's seafront. However,

A new £4.3m multi-purpose leisure complex in Paddington, London, which will be the only facility in the area to be accredited by the Inclusive Fitness Initiative (IFI), is to open this summer. Westminster City Council hopes that the 1,800sq m (19,375sq ft) Little Venice Sports Centre will help to tackle the borough’s health inequalities by making its facilities fully accessible to customers with physical disabilities and learning difficulties, as well

Three leisure facilities in Hertfordshire will be overhauled pending council approval of the increased capital injection required for the projects. Proposals for Hartham Leisure Centre in Hertford include a 65-station gym on the first floor, overlooking Hartham Common, as well as a new studio, a crèche, changing rooms and a reception. Grange Paddocks Pool and Gym in Bishop's Stortford will feature a new 80-station gym with views over the paddocks,

Saddleworth Leisure Centre in Uppermill, Oldham, has undergone a £1.7m redevelopment. The centre’s 25m swimming pool has been remodelled and the centre has been substantially extended. New facilities include a 50-station fitness suite, dance studio and a reception – together with fully refurbished changing areas. The work, carried out by Cheshire-based Pozzoni, also includes the creation of two new five-a-side football pitches, which will be added to the site’s offering

The mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has approved plans for a new five-star hotel close to Heathrow airport. The 13-storey hotel, designed by architects Foster + Partners and being developed by Riva Properties, will contain 577 rooms and six pavilions linked by bridges and an entrance lobby with an elevated glass deck offering views down to the restaurant level and swimming pool. Facilities include a health suite and gym, a

A public consultation on two redevelopment options for the Forest Hill Pools has begun in Lewisham, London, to help determine the future of the facility, which was closed in 2006. It is the second round of consultations to be held on the development, after the council was forced to re-think designs last year following the adjacent Victorian Louise House receiving a Grade II listing by English Heritage. The listing meant

Construction work has begun on the first of two new leisure centres that were approved as part of Gateshead Council's £29m Building an Active Future programme. The centre, which is being built in Blaydon, will feature a six-lane, 25m swimming pool, learner pool, health club, multi-use studios and outdoor sport pitches. It will also house health care facilities and will be one of the first such dual-use centres in the

St Helens Council has approved designs produced by architects Pozzoni for a new leisure centre in Merseyside. The £3.6m project will demolish all but the existing sports hall at Queens Park Leisure Centre to make way for a completely new facility on the same site, considered by the council to be more cost-effective than a full refurbishment of the 118-year-old building. The new facility will house a five-lane, 25m swimming

Plans for the construction of a new £9.2m leisure centre in Nottingham have been given the green light by the city council, after a feasibility study ruled that the scheme presented the most cost-effective option. The decision by Nottingham City Council's (NCC) executive board now means that the historic Victoria Leisure Centre at Sneinton Market is set to be demolished to make way for the new facility, which could be

A new £6.44m leisure centre, which is currently being built at Forest Fields, Nottingham, has received a £1m grant from Sport England's Free Swimming Capital Modernisation Development Programme (SCMP). Nottingham City Council (NCC) is behind plans for the new complex, which will replace existing facilities at Noel Street as part of its £18.5m Leisure Centre Transformation Programme to improve sports provision across the city. The funding, which is made available

Basildon District Council has appointed Community Solutions for Leisure (CSL) as developer of the £35m Basildon Sporting Village. CSL will now finalise the design – and eventually build – the new centre and its 50m Olympic-size sized pool. The council cabinet’s decision brings to an end a 15-month procurement process. Councillor Kevin Blake, cabinet member for leisure and arts said: “The process that we have had to go through has

Deeside Leisure Centre in Flintshire, North Wales, may be demolished to make way for a new facility dubbed the ‘House of Sport’. Flintshire County Council is holding an executive cabinet meeting on Wednesday 1 April to decide how best to move forward with the proposals for a 12-court sports hall, a six-lane indoor bowls hall and an outdoor five-a-side football pitch. A dance/aerobics room, a martial arts room and a

Three redevelopment proposals for Forest Hill Pools are due to be the subject of a public consultation this April in Lewisham, London. Lewisham Council's shortlisted leisure centre options come from HLM Architects, Allies + Morrison and Pollard Thomas Edwards architects. It is the second round of consultations to be held on the development, after the council was forced to rethink designs last year. The adjacent Louise House received a Grade

Designs for a £10.3m Sports, Culture and Leisure Village in Heywood, in Manchester, are currently the subject of a public consultation. The proposed development, designed by KKA Architects, includes a sports hall, a six-lane, 25m swimming pool, a learners' pool, a dance studio, a 90-station fitness suite and a youth gym, training rooms as well as indoor and outdoor changing rooms. There will also be an additional floodlit artificial turf

The historic Govanhill Baths in Glasgow may be transformed into a £12.5m Wellbeing Centre, following its closure by the council in 2001 owing to its deteriorating condition. Since its initiation in 2004, Govanhill Baths Community Trust has campaigned Glasgow City Council for permission to refurbish the B-listed Edwardian building into a cohesive leisure and community hub to help improve the lives of those living in the surrounding socially disadvantaged area.

The redevelopment of Westminster Lodge Leisure Centre and the construction of a new facility in London Colney, Hertfordshire, are now underway following the appointment of a design team. Developer Drivers Jonas has selected S&P Architects, landscape architects CBA and consultants Strategic Leisure to move the project forward. Stephen Jepson, a partner in Drivers Jonas’s specialist DJ Sport team, said: “We are delighted to have won this commission. We put a

The Peter Perkin's Swimming Pool at the Fitzalan High School has opened following a £300,000 revamp. Work on the pool facility, which is open to both pupils and the general public, included the refurbishment of the 20m pool and the transformation of a disused classroom into a fitness suite and multi-gym facility. The new fitness suite has been fitted with a selection of CV stations – including treadmills, cross trainers

Archial — formerly SMC Charter Architects — has unveiled its designs for the £46.5m Life Centre in Plymouth. A full planning application has been submitted to the city council for the massive leisure scheme, which will be located in the city’s main parkland. Paul Weston, director of Archial, said: “This building is a major architectural statement in Central Park and will act as a catalyst for the regeneration of the

Peebles High School is to get new dual-use sports facilities following Scottish Borders Council's (SBC) decision to commit £4.8m towards the scheme. The school is currently the only high school in the Borders region that does not have its own sports facilities, and the new centre will form part of the council's £40m investment in local education over the next five years. Plans for the new sports centre include a

Nordic Wellness, a new health club operation in Sweden, opened its first club on 7 January this year. Located in Gothenburg, the 570sq m club – which cost US$500,000 to build – targets a middle-aged audience with a wellness, rather than a fitness, philosophy. As owner Henrik Ask explains: “The club has a friendly, cosy environment. It’s hard to explain, but it feels more like a hotel than a gym.”

Leisure Connection has opened a Harpers-branded health club at a leisure centre in Wyboston, Bedfordshire, after completing a £0.5m revamp at the site. The new private health club at Wyboston Health and Fitness, managed by Leisure Connection, features equipment from Technogym and Star Trac as well as range of NXT spin bikes and a boxing fitness zone. The gym has been designed based on a zone layout system, with designated

Southwark Council has approved a £5.5m refurbishment plan to update Dulwich Leisure Centre. The grade II listed, 19th century building will benefit from an improved swimming pool area, a new gym and new wet and dry changing areas. Access for those with disabilities will be incorporated, including hoists into the pool, step-free access and a lift to the first floor studios. Green energy saving features like high-efficiency boilers, roof-mounted solar

Huntingdonshire District Council has begun the second phase of a £1.5m redevelopment of Huntingdon Leisure Centre. The centre, in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, is undergoing a revamp which has already seen a new mezzanine floor being created across two existing sports courts. The new space houses an Impressions fitness suite, a soft play area and an interactive fitness space. The main part of the second phase will include the introduction of spa

A new multi-million pound sports centre could be built in Bexhill, East Sussex, after Rother District Council (RDC) agreed to appoint consultants to conduct a feasibility study into the plans. The new centre, which is to be situated on the town's Down site and could cost up to £18m, will form part of the council's scheme to consolidate the town's two existing leisure facilities into one single site by 2016.