Kier turns to glulam
Glulam gets the nod for the roof of Portsmouth's new Olympic pool
A MAJOR redevelopment scheme at the Mountbatten sports centre in Portsmouth, which features an Olympic-sized swimming pool as its centrepiece, is rapidly taking shape.
Now eight months into the scheme, Kier Southern has erected the structural steel framework and installed one of the new-look centre’s most striking features – a series of exposed timber roof beams that cover the main pool hall in a single span of 32m.
Kier is carrying out the building work under a £20m redevelopment programme by Portsmouth City Council, including £5.49m of funding from Sport England.
In a £16m design and build scheme awarded by Broadwater Leisure, a partnership between Portsmouth City Council and Parkwood Project Management, Kier Southern will be carrying out remodelling and alterations to the existing sports centre, as well as creating an extension housing the 50m eightlane pool, plus a 12.5m learner pool, health suite and gymnasium.
The glulam roof beams will form an integral part of the flowing, curved contours of the new extension, which is fronted by a long cylindrically-shaped health and fitness area situated above the changing rooms.
In a closely co-ordinated programme, the 13 main beams were shipped from their manufacturer in Finland to Harwich and driven under escort to Portsmouth, using two specialised tractor and trailer units fitted with rear-steering axles to provide greater manoeuvrability for the 37m-long transport rigs.
Kier Southern’s design manager, David Brooks said that the glulam’s natural resistance in aggressive chemical environments dictated its use at Portsmouth.
“One of the main considerations was maintenance, particularly in a chlorine laden atmosphere of a swimming pool,” says Brooks.
The glulam came to site pre-treated.
“If you were to put steel beams over the top of a swimming pool the only way to maintain them would be to drain the pool and put some very expensive scaffold access within their to get up and recoat it,” he says.
“The material chosen has the benefit of firstly being able to achieve the shapes that the architect was looking for, but also the maintenance issue from the client’s point of view.”
Technical Timber Services has procured and installed the glulam.
It took a full working week for a mobile crane to lift each 3.5 tonne beam into position, to be bolted to the steel framework.
Kier Southern’s project manager, Benn Hunter, said afterwards the exercise had gone like clockwork, adding: “It is a testament to the standard of engineering in the design and manufacture of these beams and the complex steel frame to which they are attached.
“Both steelwork and timber beams were pre-drilled at the factory and they all fitted together perfectly, like a jigsaw puzzle. Even the weather played its part, with no high winds to disrupt the lifting operation.”
The project team will start improving and modernising the original 1980s-built centre once the new extension is handed over for public use next spring.
Constructed of polypropylene–lined steel panels, the main competition pool will be dividable by a moveable boom into two community swimming areas – one with an adjustable floor depth. These features will equip it for a wide range of activities, from learning and fun sessions to synchronised swimming and aqua-robics.
Opening next summer, the new Mountbatten centre is expected to be included in the pre-London Olympic games training camp guide out this autumn, and Portsmouth City Council believes it could play a vital role in helping local athletes prepare for 2012.
