Sparkhill Baths opened in 1931 and was in use until 2008 when it closed for health and safety reasons. The building was locally listed but beyond economic repair and no longer met the needs of the community. With our support as lead designer, Places Leisure won the opportunity to design, build, operate, and maintain Sparkhill’s new pool and fitness centre through competition.
The new centre is built on the site of the original 1930s swimming baths in a vibrant area, so it was important that the new building provided valuable services suitable for the whole community, while being sympathetic to the historic setting.
The site is between a locally listed library and a multicultural school building, so there were multiple stakeholders to engage with and a tight programme to ensure minimised disruption.
“It’s an outstanding facility which is built for the community."
The new centre provides a large area of activity space and includes a six-lane 25-metre pool, learner pool, 90-station fitness suite, consultation room, exercise studios, a community room, and café.
Colin Jackson CBE opened the building and described it as, ‘an outstanding facility which is built for the community’.
