Newsletter - Links - Advertise - Contact Us - Privacy
 

Johnstone Sports Hub makes its mark

November 7 2012

Johnstone Sports Hub makes its mark
Johnstone’s new £6.8m sports hub has opened its doors to residents, housing a range of facilities including a 25m pool, all-weather football pitches, sports courts and a fitness suite.

Designed by Anderson Bell Christie for Renfrewshire Council the facility forms part of Johnstone High School and is available for use by both pupils and the wider community.

Enjoying views out to the surrounding countryside, natural daylight and natural ventilation the scheme was delivered by BAM Construction and is finished in anodised aluminium, extruded mesh and composite cladding.

The architects intent was to create a ‘light box’ on the hilltop site, enveloped by a gabion wall of reclaimed Victorian road sets in a move intended to extrapolate surrounding paving up the front façade.

It first opened its doors in July.

Johnstone’s previous swimming pool, at Ludovic Square, is currently being demolished to make way for a new civic hub.

Photography by Keith Hunter.
A three storey atrium denotes entry to the sports hub
A three storey atrium denotes entry to the sports hub
Anderson Bell Christie intended for the scheme to be viewed as a hilltop lightbox
Anderson Bell Christie intended for the scheme to be viewed as a hilltop lightbox

layers of reclaimed stone and aluminium define the front facade
layers of reclaimed stone and aluminium define the front facade
Some swimmers have complained that the new pool is smaller than the old
Some swimmers have complained that the new pool is smaller than the old

5 Comments

Edward Harkins
#1 Posted by Edward Harkins on 7 Nov 2012 at 11:38 AM
Relief - a new local authority recreation & leisure facility that's not just another cloned PFI shed. Well done Renfrewshire Council and Bell, Anderson & Christie :-)
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/edward-harkins/15/40/635
rob
#2 Posted by rob on 7 Nov 2012 at 12:08 PM
Interior looks like a cloned shed to me

Outside looks like it has tried and failed to copy Archials Small Animal Hospital
Magpie
#3 Posted by Magpie on 8 Nov 2012 at 10:03 AM
Really quite nice elevation design, shame there wasn't away to keep the CCTV cameras off it... They ruin the crisp edges.
supplier
#4 Posted by supplier on 9 Nov 2012 at 10:27 AM
great facility - my daughter uses it regularly and really likes it
paul thomson
#5 Posted by paul thomson on 9 Nov 2012 at 12:35 PM
@#2 I think there are much better images of the interior that show that this isn't a cloned shed by any means. check out the GIA website under the design awards sections to see.
http://gia.org.uk/awards/2012/Johnstone-Community-Sports-Hub/138
I think there is a real attempt to make architecture out of a building typology that rarely ventures far from that of a grey clad box. I understand the comment with regards to the Small animal hospital, however with exception to the commonality of using gabion cladding I cannot see the connection. I think the buidling is a great success and all praise to the architects and the council.

Post your comments

 

All comments are pre-moderated and
must obey our house rules.

 

Back to November 2012

Search News
Subscribe to Urban Realm Magazine
Features & Reports
For more information from the industry visit our Features & Reports section.