St Sidwell’s Point opened its eco-friendly doors in April 2022... and what a building this is! The stylish facilities include three swimming pools, a 150-station gym, two fitness suites, a spin studio, spa, cafe and creche.
Just as importantly, it contains lots of hidden features to keep the costs low.
It's the first leisure centre to be built to the ultra-energy saving Passivhaus standard. This gives carbon savings of up to 70%, with much lower energy bills than you'd expect with a conventional building.
It's also been modelled to withstand predicted change in climate up to 2080.
The materials have been carefully chosen to create a pleasant environment for exercise and relaxing, with good air quality, pleasant air temperatures and lots of natural lighting.
The Passivhaus design and efficient ventilation system means the hall will always be nice and warm without any nasty cold draughts.
St Sidwell's Point website
Eco-credentials: Built to Passivhaus standards
Committee operator: Exeter City Council
Value: c. £35 million
The vision for an innovative, low-carbon leisure centre
Exeter City Council commissioned a sports facility with a spectacular swimming pool as its jewel in the crown.
To keep the energy bills down, they incorporated features including:
- Super insulation.
- Triple glazing.
- A water treatment system that doesn't use much chlorine.
- Eco-friendly ventilation.
The pool halls are south-facing to let the sunlight in and keep heating costs at a minimum. The fitness gym and studios are north-facing, to reduce the need for cooling.
The technology
The Council wanted to use the Passivhaus methodology, which is the gold-standard for sustainable buildings.
It was considered groundbreaking to apply the techniques to a leisure centre.
How they realised the dream
Design team approach
The Council commissioned a team with specialist knowledge of sustainable design. They liaised with the Passivhaus Institute and the University of Exeter.
Technical collaboration
The team used modelling programmes to predict the performance of alternative building configurations and orientations. The studies showed that an unconventional orientation would work best under future climate scenarios.
The dry areas of the building (such as the gymnasium, cafe, and creche) could overheat and, therefore, would be better on the north side of the building.
The wet areas (such as the pool changing area) would need heating almost all-year-round.
They also considered how to reduce heat losses between the different areas.