Horley Leisure Centre

An old school building was demolished to accommodate the new public leisure centre in Horley. New facilities include a 25 meter pool together with a learner pool, four court multi-use sports hall, a 60 station fitness suite, studio and related changing and reception facilities. There will also be 155 parking spaces on the site, which will be shared with the adjoining Horley Town Football Club. The access road to the Football Club is within the site boundary and will be kept open for the players and public throughout the project.

The low carbon energy philosophy influenced design and engineering decisions and the building achieved an A-rating for energy efficiency thanks to a range of energy-saving measures including: a biomass boiler for woodchips and wood pellets, pool covers, solar panels (photovoltaic) and a lighting scheme based on daylight saving and PIR sensors. The UV pool filtration system reduces the amount of required chlorine by half. Also the entire building is made of concrete with laminated timber beams, columns, and roof and wall panels, and more than 90 per cent of the demolition materials from the old school were reclaimed or recycled.

The building is designed to be accessible to all. The pool has full-length ramped access with waterproof wheelchairs, and a pool- side hoist for disabled users, there are four fully equipped disabled changing rooms, two of which are fitted with ceiling-mounted electrical hoists to assist carers, and several pieces of gym equipment have adaptations to accommodate wheelchair users and other features to make them more accessible, including fluorescent markings for visually impaired customers. All the facilities can be accessed via ramps or lift. The centre also has high visibility signage with captions in Braille, a hearing loop system and tactile paving around its outside.