Harpenden Leisure and Cultural Centre, Harpenden

Procured through Scape Major Works England and Northern Ireland, part of the Scape National Construction framework, our team of leisure experts have revitalised, extended and altered an existing swimming pool building in Rothamsted Park. The work consisted of improvements to the main pool, as well as a new 17-metre-long learner pool, a sports hall, dance studios and a larger gym plus new changing rooms, a steam room, sauna and reception area.

Furthermore, our team also transformed the adjacent sports facility into Harpenden Cultural Centre with a 511-seat theatre, named after comedy legend and former Harpenden resident Eric Morecambe, which will host national and local touring productions.

The project also included creating a 92-space car park.

Further to our developments at Harpenden Leisure Centre, our continued relationship with St Albans District Council follows a recent successful transformation of the St Albans Town Hall into a museum and art gallery rejuvenating the cultural life of the city. The extension and refurbishment has also created public meeting spaces as well as being a showcase for over 2,000 years of heritage and hosting cutting-edge art exhibitions.

The transformation of the Town Hall was recognised by the Hertfordshire Building Futures Awards in 2018 where it was given the Retrofit for the Future award and commended in the Project of the Year category.

Another key project we built in St Albans back in 2012, was Westminster Lodge.

Chris Tredget, managing director for Willmott Dixon in North London said:

“The team are exceptionally proud of what we created in St Albans with the museum and gallery, which has been an important new attraction for the city. We are keen to have made a similar impact with our work in Harpenden to expand its leisure and cultural offerings to local people.”

Works were completed in the Autumn of 2020.