UWE

AWARD-WINNING SPORTS FACILITIES

Since obtaining its university status in 1992, the University of the West of England (UWE) has grown steadily. It is now ranked among the top 25 higher education institutions in England for its graduate employment prospects. Performance Sport at UWE Bristol aims to provide an elite performance framework that supports student-athletes embracing their potential in sport and academics.

To improve the facilities for its growing student sport community, the university in 2018 invested £4.5m in the development of a new, state-of-the-art sports complex. 

Built at the university’s Hillside Gardens, the sports hub has become the new home for UWE Sport – providing pitches for football, rugby, lacrosse, American football and Ultimate Frisbee.

This has been one of our most challenging projects to date. During the building work, more than 60,000 cubic metres of material was relocated, repurposed and crucially retained on-site, while more than 16,000sq m of subsoil was stabilised to minimise importation of virgin stone. This not only guaranteed the performance standard of the formation but reduced CO2 emissions and the traffic impact on the local road network and neighbourhood. More than 3,000 cubic metres of stormwater storage were also provided, as part of a complex sustainable drainage system.

Facilities at the new sports hub include changing room block, two floodlit synthetic pitches – with a separate warm-up area – undercover seating for spectators, pitch-side dugouts, a natural grass football pitch and training grids.

Throughout the delivery process, the entire team were determined to provide the best experience for the client team, relevant stakeholders and the surrounding community. A key requirement was for the facility to be able to operate completely autonomously of the main campus site. Therefore we included within the design, a Building Management System (BMS) to control the various equipment within the changing room block. This coupled with access control, CCTV system and floodlight Control Link software means that the site can be operated remotely.

The changing room block continues to fulfil all the original desired outcomes. All pitches have achieved national governing body standards for sports safety and quality assurance. World Rugby IRB22 accreditation and FIFA Quality standard. The project won a Considerate Constructors Bronze Award, shortlisted for Best BIM Project award 2018 and SAPCA award 2018 finalist.

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