New stand to be added to stadium and sports centre building to be upgraded
Morgan Sindall has been appointed as main contractor on plans to refurbish Crystal Palace Sports Centre in south London following the submission of a planning application for the scheme.
The Faulkner Browns-designed project is aiming to modernise the grade II*-listed sports centre, originally opened in 1964, while showcasing its heritage and historic features.
Other firms working on the scheme include heritage conservation specialist Alan Baxter Associates, sustainability consultant Max Fordham and sports masterplan specialist WOO Architects, part of the creative team behind both the London and Paris Olympics.
The complex was designed in the 1950s by London county council architect Norman Engleback and built close to the site of where the Crystal Palace burned down in 1936. It is considered an important example of British post-war modernism.
It is one of five national sports centres and includes two main buildings, the sports centre itself and a 15,500-seat stadium which is partly sunken into Crystal Palace park.
Work on the 15ha site will include refurbishing the sports centre building with improved accessibility and additional sports club spaces, renovating existing stands in the stadium and adding a new North Stand.
The diving pool and 50m swimming pool will also return in the aquatics hall, with shallow water, 25m swimming, 50m swimming, and diving all to be provided in one space and on one level for the first time.
Outdoor spaces will also be overhauled with the addition of a six-court padel centre along with new basketball courts, five-a-side football pitches and a full-size artificial multi-sports pitch.
The project is targeting a 97% reduction in carbon emissions compared to current levels at the site through the addition of PV panels and air source heat pumps.
London mayor Sadiq Khan has given the project his support, describing the site as a historic and much-loved sporting facility which “needs major investment and refurbishment”.
Morgan Sindall London area director Richard Dobson added: “The ideas that have been laid out in the planning application for Crystal Palace National Sports Centre’s transformative regeneration represent something quite ambitious and different.
“Everyone working on this scheme has pushed hard to make the design a showcase in what a modern, sustainable, inclusive and community-centred leisure centre should look like – all while paying homage to the venue’s inspiring legacy.”
The project team for the scheme has been procured using the Southern Construction Framework.
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