General

We are now in week 25 of the project. The recent snow and cold weather has slowed progress on many fronts.
Solutions to a great many of the various structural problems that are being encountered are now allowing the external cladding operations to re-commence. A great deal of previously unknown asbestos has also now been. Now the asbestos is out of the way, we can commence final fabrication of additional secondary steel framing, which will ultimately support the new cladding materials.
The cold and snow has prevented the application of the new sports hall roof covering. The system being used is an adhered system so that when the roof is viewed from inside the sports hall, you will not see thousands of screw fixings that would have been visible with traditional methods of roofing. Now it has warmed up a little, we are once again able to progress the works.

Swimming Pool

All of the existing tiles and render have been hacked off of the deep end of the main pool. We are now receiving the design for the remedial works to this end that will allow us to ‘square up’ the walls prior to re-rendering and tiling. This work is necessary so that the new movable pool floor does not jam due to unevenness of the walls.
The changing village is currently completely ripped apart and deep excavations are taking place so that the new drainage can be installed to the required locations throughout this area. Until this element is complete and the floor slabs re-instated, the new wall layout cannot be installed.
The new lift pit to the swimming pool area has now been formed. This was delayed due to an additional asbestos find which delayed the original programme of works for this area. The rest of the existing sauna area has now been demolished and the new drainage system will start to be installed.

Theatre

The extensive asbestos removal works to the theatre has now been fully concluded (including the numerous additional asbestos finds in this area). The huge birdcage scaffold that was used for the asbestos removal operations has now been completely stripped out , and the mechanical and electrical contractors can now commence their re-wiring works throughout.
The hospitality area has also been the subject of extensive additional asbestos finds. The existing theatre plant room walls were found to contain a cavity that was full of asbestos lagging. This posed serious questions on how best to proceed. In the end a solution of partial removal and partial encapsulation has been chosen as this minimises the risk and cost and affords the best al round solution for all parties. This work is now in progress and is due to be complete by the end of February.

Dry Sports

The existing high level walls to the sports hall were found to be dangerously loose and we were instructed to remove the top seven courses to make the walls safe. All of the existing sport floor has now been removed and we are back to the concrete slab.
The new stainless steel drainage channels are being positioned within the floor slabs to the changing rooms in preparation for the floor slab being re-cast. The new lift shaft blockwork is now being constructed. First fix mechanical and electrical installations are also commencing.

Ice Rink

The ice rink slab has been completed and we are now progressing with the removal of the badly damaged internal concrete liner panels to the walls. We are also preparing to carry out substantial remedial work to the existing inner roof liner sheet as this is severely corroded in certain areas and in need of patch repairs and full re-decoration with a protective paint specification.

Main entrance and central circulation areas

The primary steel structure to the new atrium roof has now been erected and we are now commencing fixing the secondary steel which will carry the roof and glazed rooflight. The main entrance area has been dug out to the required level and the ground beams will be cast later this week followed by the new entrance slab. Once this has been cast we will be able to start the installation of the new glazed entrance screens.