Plymouth Life Centre

The Life Centre represents Plymouth’s biggest ever investment in leisure facilities. The state-of-the-art facility will be the best leisure centre of its kind in the region and one of the country’s leading centres of aquatic excellence, attracting top sportsmen and women including Plymouth’s own Olympic divers Tom Daley and Tonia Couch.

It is hoped that the Life Centre will act as a hub of community activity that will excite and inspire local residents. This circa £40 million scheme will include a 50 x 25 metre swimming pool, 25 x 16 metre diving pool, dryside diving facility, leisure water, climbing area with ariel experience, eight-rink bowling facility, 12-court sports hall, fitness suite with 150 stations, health suite, multipurpose space and dance studio, crèche, soft play and café area. Once completed, it should help tackle the issues associated with exercise levels and health inequality across the region.

EC Harris was appointed to provide a service package that includes Project Management, Lead Consultant, Quantity Surveying and CDM Coordinator roles.

Creating solutions

EC Harris has been working in partnership with Plymouth City Council to effectively deliver all aspects of the Life Centre, which has been described as one of the most important developments in the region. The firm has used its wide-ranging expertise to:

• Input into the Outline Business Case submission before its successful submission
• Produce a facility mix option paper, to evaluate the optimum mix for the scheme (considering both capital and operational expenditure
• Complete a site location options appraisal paper to identify the most suitable site for the Life Centre
• Appraise procurement options, to identify the most suitable procurement and funding route for the council
• Manage stakeholder consultation meetings to establish stakeholder needs and manage expectations
• Undertake sustainability workshops to develop the sustainability strategy for the development, including cost options for the various solutions.
• Manage delivery of the scheme through the various project life stages, including: design team and main contractor procurement; design development and control; and Planning Process management

Adding value

As lead consultants, EC Harris provides a clear, single point of contact for Plymouth City Council on the scheme. The team has added significant value to the client:

• The project team undertook extensive research, visiting leading sporting venues across the UK with the client team, to ensure best practice techniques from other leisure facilities can be applied to the Life Centre
• EC Harris used its extended network to bring in leading specialists as required throughout the project
• The firm tailored its project management and cost consulting tools to fit with the governance needs and processes of the council
• EC Harris significantly contributed to the marketing campaign and the stakeholder engagement process around the scheme
• The firm acts as ‘project custodians’ to ensure the delivery of a scheme which is sustainable from a capital and operational expenditure perspective

Ultimately, EC Harris is using its expertise of the built asset in the Local Government, Regeneration, Commercial and Leisure sectors to maximise the community benefits through the delivery of this commercially viable scheme.

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