We take a look at progress on site and how the transformation of Lampeter Leisure Centre is advancing
Welcome to our second progress report on the construction works to redesign and facelift the existing Lampeter Leisure Centre into the reimagined Lampeter Wellbeing Centre.
We are now around halfway through the six-month programme of the £1.1m contract, awarded to LEB Construction by client Ceredigion County Council.
The updated facility will provide a wide array of new services to the Lampeter community, including an initiative to improve physical and mental health while also providing employment advice and training, along with broader housing and support for young people.
New space and additional rooms are being added, mainly through the installation of a mezzanine area, which helps to extend the first floor. Once our works are completed, there’ll be a new gym, a new kitchen and a more modern feel throughout, while a new curtain wall will allow light to flood into the centre.
For this and future progress reports, we have split the project down into a number of areas across the ground and first floors, each of which we will cover in turn below.
Ground Floor
Area 1A – Lobby / Entrance
A warm welcome for the new and returning visitors is being finalised in the facelifted lobby, which has received its first coat of paint. The new experience starts upon arrival, through the all-new automated entrance doors.
The major works in this area have been completed: new walls, plastering, first-fix mechanical electric and plumbing (MEP), fire alarm system, ventilation and a new suspended ceiling.
Next week will see the arrival and installation of a new bespoke reception desk, which is free-standing and finished in high-gloss laminate complete with a protective glass screen.
When the second coat of paint goes on, the finishing touches will start to be applied, including a new carpet tile flooring.
Area 1B – Consultation Rooms and Offices
Progress in the Consultations Rooms has reached the same stage as the Reception: the new walls have been formed and plastered, and first-fix mechanical electric and plumbing (MEP), fire alarm system, ventilation and a new suspended ceiling have all been installed.
Once painting has been completed, new flooring will be laid before Christmas.
The fitting out of the WC will commence in the New Year, complete with non-slip flooring.
Area 1C – Sports Hall
Currently, the new gym wall is being erected. It’s huge, at 19m wide and 10m high, and is being formed of jumbo timber studs before being closed up with plasterboard sheets and then plastered.
The installation of a brand-new lift to the first floor has been completed and the lift commissioned, ready for use. It has been covered with protective materials which will keep it in brand new condition until the centre is ready for the opening.
Mid-January will see the commencement of the curtain walling glass being installed.
The main hall floor surface will be the last action, and will be laid once these works are all completed.
Area 1D – Gym
The works on the new gym have commenced and the new workout suite is taking shape.
First Floor
Area 2A – Area Mezzanine Floor
Following the installation of the new metal mezzanine structure and concrete deck, new walls have now been built on the mezzanine floor, forming the new and additional rooms to Lampeter Wellbeing Centre.
Area 2B – Upper Rooms
The new stud walls on the second floor are 75% complete. This allowed the first-fix MEP to commence, which in turn is now 50% complete, while the ducting for the ventilation system is 90% complete. The stud walls will be finished and plasterboarded prior to Christmas.
Area 2C – Practical Skills Room
In our first progress report, the first-fix MEP in the Practical Skills Room had already been completed. The has now been plastered and received a first coat of paint.
Second-fix carpentry will commence in mid-December, with flooring to follow the completion of the works.
Area 2D – Kitchen
The Kitchen is now ready for the installation of furniture and equipment, which will commence in the first week of January 2023.
External/Façade
Area 3 – Curtain Wall
The transformational curtain walling has been ordered from Essential Aluminium, a specialist aluminium fabricator based in Newcastle upon Tyne. This work is scheduled to commence in the New Year with the installation of the curtain walling.
Area 4 – External Works
Works outside of the building have progressed well, with a new path, concrete pads for the air conditioning units and new drainage and gullies all being completed. A new high-security fence has also been installed.
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The site team continue to work closely with the design team and engineers. Works carried out have been inspected and signed off by the building control inspector. Furthermore, since Update No. 01, the site has received an inspection by a third-party health and safety auditor and passed with flying colours.
We have also been delighted to continue to welcome our client to site for regular inspections and progress reports, allowing them to see first-hand the great works that are being undertaken.
Our Project Manager, Gary Davies, said: “Progress on site has been really pleasing and the centre is starting to take shape. You can see the client’s vision unfolding and becoming clearer each day.
We are delighted with the new mezzanine floor and the additional first floor space that it has created.
We are on programme and looking forward to starting to add the final touches in the New Year.”
The project works commenced on site on 15 August 2022, and we will provide project progress updates each month before handing over a completed facility to Ceredigion County Council in February 2023.
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