In Watford, Pellikaan completed a £ 22m contract for two leisure centres at Central and Woodside. At Woodside, Pellikaan have completely redeveloped the existing 30-year-old leisure centre and added a large extension to house 'wet' facilities including a new swimming pool with moveable floor, a learner pool and sauna. The existing sports hall was completely refurbished with a new floor and wall panels, creating a warm atmosphere as well as high durability, and excellent acoustic performance. Other facilities include health and fitness, café, treatment rooms, artificial pitch, dance studio, crèche, squash courts etc.



Sustainability was a key consideration in the design and resulted in a nomination for the Sustainable Building of the Year Award. The significant renewable energy features of the building will increase its long term viability, both in terms of a reduction in carbon emissions and in running costs. Some examples are high insulation levels, a solar thermal array, rainwater recycling and heat recovery systems to reclaim heat from air and water. The extended ground source heat pump system, using boreholes of approx. 100 metres deep, enables use of the natural heat of the earth. The system also re-uses excess heat generated by cooling. Furthermore, heat loss and emission of carbon dioxide by air leakage were reduced significantly.

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Cate Hall, Corporate Director at Watford Borough Council said: "Great partnership working between the Council and the design team led by Studio E Architects and subsequently with Pellikaan Construction has enabled us to deliver very high quality buildings that everyone is proud of, which are on time and on budget."