[0]
Sky Health & Fitness
Wellbeing in engineered timber
: Completed
: Osterley, London
: Collaboration, Engineered Timber, Sustainability Exemplars
Cost Consultant AECOM
Structrual Engineer Arup
Services Engineer Arup
CDM Coordinator Lend Lease Consulting
Sustainability Consultant KLH Sustainability
Main Contractor Mace
The Sky Health & Fitness Centre at BSkyB’s Campus development in Hounslow, West London, is an exercise in engineered timber that combines structural innovation and material delight.
Cost Consultant AECOM
Structrual Engineer Arup
Services Engineer Arup
CDM Coordinator Lend Lease Consulting
Sustainability Consultant KLH Sustainability
Main Contractor Mace
Sky commissioned us to design a purpose-built health and fitness centre that would be a demonstration of their commitment to the health and well-being of their staff.
In keeping with their ethos on work/life balance and to create a healthy lifestyle for their employees, Sky have maintained a gym on their West-London site for over 14 years. Yet these facilities had become over-subscribed and outdated.
The new building would include a fitness-focused gym and dedicated studio spaces, as well as therapeutic consultation and relaxation facilities, a hair and beauty salon, a dedicated cycle store and a cycle retail and workshop tenancy.
Our aim was to create a building that would not only provide exemplar facilities, but embody Sky’s corporate sustainability polices and our own commitment to sustainable materials and building practices.
We collaborated closely with Arup in the design of the Centre, carefully composing a unique structural arrangement made from sustainably sourced engineered timber. This consisted of glue-laminated bifurcated timber and beams, contained within cross-laminated timber (CLT) perimeter walls and floors. Internally, all the structural timber is left exposed which adds a richness of texture and sculptural form.
Positioned opposite a large, landscaped plaza, the simple, timber box had one spectacular glass façade, like a carefully detailed television, animated by the activities within.
The internal spaces are arranged around a central timber stair that connects the three levels. Changing rooms, cycle storage and cyclist amenity are on the lower floor, whilst the gym and further well-ness facilities are located between the ground and first floors.
Externally, the Health & Fitness Centre is informed by the adjacent contemporary buildings that have also been delivered as part of the campus masterplan. The building is predominantly clad in a dark timber façade panel that provides an alternative texture to the metallic buildings surrounding it.
The project was commissioned by Sky and overseen by the Campus Development team, but involved regular consultation with a range of stakeholder groups. In spite of this, the centre was designed and delivered in just 17 months, and the superstructure took only 26 days to erect.
As a natural material, the timber was a central concept in relation to the health aspect of the building. It testifies to the beauty and efficiency of engineered timber and offers outstanding facilities for the wellbeing of the Sky community.
It was a joy to be part of the team to realise the Health and Fitness project. While working to a challenging timeline we delivered a quality building and challenged the perceived wisdom around timber engineering. The ultra-flat reinforced ‘superbeams’ that support the floors in the gym are a world first; to the point that the fabricators challenged Arup, the engineers, that it would not stand up. It is still standing strong, and I often hear stories of how well it is loved by the Sky staff that use it.
Associate Director
Insight: Steven Wallis
