Leisure
Communities getting active together
Sports and leisure facilities play a vital role in supporting the health and wellbeing of a local community.
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A report from the Local Government Association in January 2020 found that 63% of sports halls and swimming pools were more than 10 years old and of the older stock; one in four of them had not been refurbished in over two decades. As the research was published the Covid-19 pandemic was gaining pace in the UK, propelling the need for high-quality, accessible leisure centres into the long-term strategies of the public sector.
Now, modern and sustainable wet and dry leisure facilities are demonstrating their role in addressing public health issues such as physical inactivity, health inequalities, issues associated with an aging population and the long-term effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
These modern facilities are an important link to our healthcare projects and social prescribing in the community. Where people can be connected to activities, groups and services that meet the practical, social and emotional needs that affect their health and wellbeing. Thus, reducing waiting lists and chronic health conditions and easing pressure on the NHS through early intervention and prevention.
Creating long-term social value
Leisure facilities are often the hub of a diverse community. Our leisure projects are collaboratively driven by our own and customers objectives to deliver socio and economic outcomes for everyone living or working in the locality.
As part of our local social value strategies work placements and skills training, apprenticeships and focused community enrichment activities drive engagement with the facility as it’s constructed. Meanwhile, upon delivery flexible public spaces and cafes are providing the environments needed to create community cohesion, support mental wellbeing and youth development.
Our work in the leisure sector
Our capability includes brand-new sport and leisure centres to replace buildings no longer suitable for public use. As well as sensitive refurbishment and decarbonisation of existing wet and dry facilities to improve public health and drive sustainable running costs.
What’s more, organisations such as UK Sport working with funders such as the National Lottery, are developing the grassroots facilities needed to nurture UK-sporting talent. Funding is a critical part of many leisure projects and as a business we have demonstrable experience in the sequencing, design and delivery of leisure facilities that meet the requirements of multiple sport governing bodies and key funding gateways. Because of this, our teams are undertaking work on exciting projects such as Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, due to be the home of UK Athletics as well as more unusual sporting facilities elsewhere such as BMX trails, skateboarding parks and facilities for snow sports.
Building facilities that will compete on an international sporting stage
In May 2025, Morgan Sindall Construction was appointed by the Greater London Authority (GLA) to deliver the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, a project procured via the Southern Construction Framework (SCF).
The team will rejuvenate the Grade II listed sports centre that stretches over 10-hectares, preserving the sites heritage and historic features. The site will undergo an exciting transition to decarbonise; the all-electric site will be fossil fuel free for the first time in its 60-year history.
Find out more about the plans for the project here.
Leisure – but with an adventurous edge
Public demand for more adventurous activities is reshaping traditional leisure centres and fitness spaces. We’re working in collaboration with specialist supply chain partners regionally and nationally to design and construct facilities for extreme or alternative sports – bringing a new sense of adventure to both rural and urban communities.
At our Southampton Sports Centre project, procured via the Pagabo framework, we’re bringing the ski slopes to Southampton! As well as a cycle pump track and skate park. The latter continues into Brighton, where our team has delivered similar facilities for the community and tourists at Hove Beach Park for Brighton & Hove City Council.
Meanwhile in Scotland, the £5.6m Twechar Outdoor Pursuits Centre, procured via the SCAPE Scotland framework, has transformed a once-derelict canal-side into a hub for canoeing, kayaking, paddleboarding and cycling. Beyond recreation, it also offers education, training and volunteering opportunities which are helping to tackle inequalities in access to outdoor sports.
Creating long-term social value
Hackney Britannia Leisure Centre is one of our flagship projects that achieved significant social value outcomes. The brand-new £53.8m leisure centre for London Borough of Hackney was built in tandem with the new Hackney Britannia Secondary Academy. The team defined the needs of the community and turned this into £78m return in social value (2.11 average LM3 multiplier) which included over 800 volunteer hours, 57 new jobs, 34 apprenticeships and over 1,000 student engagements.
The project's success both in its design and construction as well as its approach to social value has seen a larger replica leisure centre constructed in Woolwich town centre as part of its ongoing investment and regeneration strategy. The £80m, 12,800mq, three-storey leisure facility is set to become one of the UK’s largest urban leisure centres and the team have been sharing their social value outcomes as the project continues.
Meeting the needs of growing communities
Kings Hall Leisure will see the current Grade II listed leisure centre which was built in 1897 refurbished and works undertaken to ensure the building is compliant with current accessibility and disability regulation.
The £44m project will include works to expand the current provision and offer additional court sport facilities, new changing rooms and studios built to BREEAM Excellent standard.
Watch the fly-through of the proposed designs for the leisure centre (FaulknerBrown Architects).
Meaningful stakeholder engagement leads to more inclusive spaces
Who better to shape new leisure facilities than the people who will use them? Our teams work closely with local councils, community groups, and sports organisations to identify barriers to access and design solutions that generate excitement and inclusivity.
At King’s Hall, public consultations highlighted concerns about locker height, the need for varied changing facilities, and preserving the building’s heritage. These were all addressed in the final design.
During the Marina Centre project in Great Yarmouth, we hosted monthly on-site coffee mornings. These informal sessions invited the community to ask questions, tour the site during key milestones, and stay connected throughout construction.
For the Hackney Britannia Leisure project, located beside the TfL Cycleways, we collaborated with Transport for London (TfL) and Hackney Council’s Streetscene team. Together, we planned logistics to minimise disruption to cyclists and traffic. This included reducing large vehicle deliveries, using cargo bikes where possible, and ensuring traffic marshals completed TfL’s ‘Elite Marshal’ training.
Retrofitting for energy efficiency
Leisure centres are one of the most energy intensive buildings as part of any public or private sector estate.
Early collaboration between clients and our teams, including consultants and our supply chain enables us to take a fabric-first approach to construction, establishing the solutions to optimise the design considering insultation, thermal bridging, airtightness and more for the best use of capital investment and achieve sustainable operating costs. This approach is used not only on our leisure projects, but across our full project capability to support clients make key viability and profitability decisions in the early stages when it comes to optimising their estate and choosing to refurbish or to build new.
Managing a live site to continue customer operations
Eversley Leisure Centre in Essex underwent a £6.2 million expansion to add a 4-lane, 25-metre swimming pool, addressing high demand for aquatic facilities from local primary schools and residents. The requirement set by the client was for the pool to be available during January, their peak season for memberships.
The team ensured that the existing leisure centre could remain operational throughout the expansion. In addition, to meet the January deadline one of the key innovations the team opted for was an alternative concrete install technique, which not only saved time from the overall schedule, but also contributed to the carbon impact of the project. Over 410 tonnes of carbon was removed overall, and the sustainable leisure centre achieved an EPC rating of A.
Stacking facilities when space is at a premium
Our intelligent solutions approach sees us working with consultants in which to define unique solutions to our customers challenges. Working with FaulknerBrown Architects and using tried and tested methodology to steel construction and vibration the team has constructed three stacked leisure facilities in Hackney, Woolwich and Stevenage.
By accommodating over three storeys of sports facilities in a confined space the team has bought experiences such as rooftop tennis and additional outdoor space to densely populated residential and commercial inner-city areas.
Want to find out more about our sporting credentials?
Case Studies
