Willmott Dixon wins £15.9m leisure contract expanding its £264m industry portfolio

Willmott Dixon has been awarded a £15.9m contract to develop a new leisure centre in Bingham, Nottingham, on behalf of Rushcliffe Borough Council.The development will see the creation of a new two-storey leisure centre featuring two swimming pools, a fitness gym, workout studios and adjacent community hall with staging and seating.The new facility will be built in line with the Bingham Masterplan and will also include a commercial office block, specifically designed to support local start-up businesses. The project also aligns with the Bingham Growth Board’s aspirations to develop the site, located in Chapel Lane, as a connection between the current town centre and the new housing developments in the north of the town.This contract win sees Willmott Dixon expand upon its ten active leisure sites across the UK, which result in a combined value of £264m, with support from key partners Parkwood Leisure, Bingham Town Council and funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) subject to signing grant funding agreement and the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership.Procured through the Procure Partnerships Framework, the 5,500 square metre development, which is due to start on site this month, will be known as Bingham Arena, with the adjacent office block being named the Bingham Enterprise Centre.The Bingham Enterprise Business comprises of six ground-floor offices and six also on the first floor, as well as a breakout area, meeting room and shared working space.The Bingham Arena will feature a 25-metre six-lane swimming pool with seating for 330 spectators to accommodate swimming competitions and will provide a valuable resource for local schools and swimming groups. The facility also includes a 13 x 7-metre learning pool, a café, two exercise studios, a spin studio, a fitness gym and changing room facilities, as well as a 207-space car park with 12 additional accessible spaces. The development also includes a 260 square metre community hall, which can accommodate 300 people and features a fixed stage area with dedicated changing facilities, a control room, kitchen and storage.A highlighting feature of this development is the innovative Myrtha Pool technology, a steel-framed pool in comparison to a traditional concrete solution. By optimising the Myrtha Pool technology, Willmott Dixon will be able to provide Rushcliffe Borough Council with a more cost-efficient solution that will support a shorter build programme for the development and will result in a safer swimming pool installation process.As part of Willmott Dixon’s on-going commitment to leaving a lasting legacy in the communities it operates within, the contractor has committed to investing five percent of this project spend back into local community activities with a further five percent being invested in local spend and labour costs.Willmott Dixon is highly experienced in delivering leisure centre facilities having, recently completed on site at the award-winning £37m Sports and Wellness Hub at the University of Warwick; a development that has subsequently gone on to become the most energy-efficient leisure centre in the UK.The Bingham Arena and Bingham Enterprise Centre project is expected to complete in May 2022.