First images of new Britannia Leisure Centre revealed
Hackney Council has shared the first images of what the brand new, state-of-the-art Britannia Leisure Centre could look like.
The new Centre is part of a wider project on the site in Shoreditch, which will also provide a new secondary school for local children and new Council social rented and shared ownership homes, as well as housing for sale to fund part of the programme.
The new Centre, which will open before the old Britannia closes, has been designed following feedback from local residents and users, and will include:
• A six-lane, 25m main pool with moveable floor
• A 20m x10m training pool with moveable floor
• Leisure water - for children and families - with water features and a flume
• A café and toilets (also serving Shoreditch Park users)
• A six-court sports hall
• Crèche and soft play area
• Sauna and steam room
• Fitness suite, spin studio and two exercise studios
• Four squash courts
• Two five-a-side pitches
• Two tennis courts
We’re excited to share these images of the new Britannia Leisure Centre. I hope they give residents an idea of our commitment to a delivering a 21st Century leisure centre in Shoreditch for the people of Hackney.
While the existing Centre might just look a bit tatty, beneath the surface, the truth is more serious. Estimates for bringing the building up to a standard well below the newly-proposed facility are in the region of £14-17m, and we would need to close Britannia for up to two years while such works took place. We would also then be left without a site for the desperately-needed new secondary school. Instead, we’re committed to providing a much better leisure facility, and will not need to close the existing Centre until the new one is ready.
In working with architects to design the new Centre, we’ve taken on board feedback from existing users and the wider public, through more than 100,000 leaflets delivered to local residents and around 20 public engagement sessions. I hope people will be as enthusiastic about the designs as we are, and we look forward to sharing more details about the rest of the site in due course.
Residents can find out more about the plans for the project by visiting the Britannia Leisure Centre where the information is being displayed in the foyer until Saturday 9 December.
Further details about the school and housing will be shared soon. A planning application for the whole site is due to be finalised in spring 2018. If approved, the new leisure centre will open in 2021.