ISG wins £30 million Birmingham leisure framework schemes

Construction company ISG has won a £30 million contract to build four leisure centres in Birmingham.As part of the Birmingham Sports and Leisure Facilities Framework, the four leisure centres at Erdington, Stechford, Northfield and Icknield Port Loop (IPL) will be developed and operated by Serco on behalf of Birmingham City Council.Work is already underway on the £6.5 million Erdington scheme with the construction of the remaining centres following in a rolling programme.All four leisure centres will offer wet and dry facilities, with Erdington, Stechford and Northfield classified as community leisure centres, and IPL designated as a competition facility in line with Sport England standards.The Erdington, Stechford and Northfield schemes will see ISG construct new leisure centres to replace existing community facilities. The Erdington and Stechford projects are being constructed on nearby sites to enable the existing buildings to remain open. ISG will demolish the existing structure and build a new leisure centre on the same site at Northfield.The Erdington, Northfield and Stechford schemes involve the construction of a six-lane, 25 metre pool, learner pool, fitness studio, dance studio and wet and dry change areas in a two-storey steel frame building.The Erdington project also includes a health suite with steam and sauna facilities. Stechford will also benefit from the addition of a 100 capacity poolside seating area for local community galas, a café and terrace and a four-court sports hall, along with sports wheelchair accessible lift.The IPL facility involves the construction of a new leisure centre on the edge of a brownfield site earmarked for the development of 3,000 new homes.The project, which is due to be completed in late 2018, will include an eight-lane, 25 metre competition pool, with a 250-capacity spectator seating area, along with a learner pool, steam and sauna facilities, fitness suite, dance studio and wet and dry change facilities.All four leisure centres have been designed to minimise lifecycle costs and drive sustainability, across both building fabric and building services specification.