John Brash Western Red Cedar shingles have been used on the domed
roofs of an innovative new sports academy in Scunthorpe which is one
of the first major UK leisure projects to use this free-form
‘organic’ building design.
North Lincolnshire Council launched a design contest for the project
with the aim of creating a landmark building to spearhead the
regeneration of Scunthorpe. The competition was organised through
the RIBA Competitions Office in association with the Landscape
Institute and attracted 45 entries. Judges took the opinion of local
people into account when they selected the winner from a final
shortlist.
The winning design team was led by Andrew Wright Associates, and
included S&P Architects Ltd. The project has been partially funded
by Yorkshire Forward and will cost £21m. The building has been named
‘The Pods’ and comprises a series of linked timber geodesic domed
structures which will appear to emerge naturally from the landscape.
Calculations showed that the lightweight yet strong nature of John
Brash Western Red Cedar Shingles was one of the few ways of creating
the very shallow angles towards the top of the domes. Masonry based
materials may have been too heavy, requiring additional internal
support structures to the domes that would have compromised the
design purity of the building.
The Pods will house a 25m swimming pool, a learner pool with a large
spectator area, as well as changing rooms, a sports hall, dance
studio and 90-station gym. The centre will also contain a café,
crèche, meeting rooms and offices.
Project Architect Ron Wallwork of S&P Architects said: “The domed
roofs are in different materials to give a variety of finishes, and
John Brash Western Red Cedar Shingles were specified for two of them
because they are a lightweight, strong and naturally sustainable
material.”
The Pods is aiming towards achieving a BREEAM Excellent rating and
will include a biomass boiler, and grey water recycling plant to
feed the green roofs and the water systems in the park. The project
is due for completion Summer 2011.
The design combines glulam timber members and galvanised steel nodes
in a novel ‘organic’ domed shell structure. Each timber member is of
a different length and links to the nodes at different angles. A
secondary timber triangular structure infills the primary structure.
Main contractor on the project was Derbyshire-based Bowmer and
Kirkland Ltd and the roofing contractor was Advanced Roofing, also
based in Derbyshire.
Managing Director of Advanced Roofing Richard Clapp said: “Our
installers are always confident when working with John Brash
products as they are of consistently high quality, backed up with
excellent customer service. The commercial and technical teams also
provide us with really helpful technical advice.”
Western Red Cedar Shingles and Shakes from John Brash are light and
extremely durable, having a minimum 40-year service life, resistance
to decay and a high strength to weight ratio that provides
flexibility in design. Their natural thermal qualities have also led
to Shingles & Shakes being specified extensively by architects and
building designers.
John Brash has been marketing timber for over 100 years. It is BS EN
ISO 9001:2008 accredited and only sources timber from sustainable
and well managed forests that have either FSC (Forestry Stewardship
Certification) or PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest
Certification) schemes.
The company supplies a wide range of sustainable timber building
solutions including Shingles and Shakes, anti-slip decking, roofing
battens and carcassing.
For more information on Western Red Cedar Shingles and Shakes from
John Brash please email.
|
E-mail John Brash |
|