Allander Leisure Centre & Adult Day Care Centre
Allander Leisure Centre & Adult Day Care Centre
Client: East Dunbartonshire Council
Status: Completed 2023
Value: £40m
Type: New-build Leisure & Adult Day Care Centre
Location: Bearsden, Glasgow
Awards: GIA Awards 2024 - Leisuire & Arts - Award
The new Allander seeks to create synergies between sport, culture, learning disabilities and mental health as a welcoming, user centric, civic building within the heart of the local community. The proposals are a direct product of a 12-month consultation, including community charettes and dialogue, to ensure that the People have shaped the design of their building.
Working collaboratively with the Council and the building management team, the integrated design draws together all the facilities to form a Community hub with inclusivity as its standard bearer. Combining a Day Care Centre with a Leisure Centre is breaking down barriers and has unlocked a host of new opportunities for those living with dementia, autism, and physical disabilities.
The new Day Care Centre within the scheme offers unrivalled facilities, following Health and Social Care best practice, with an internal layout that reflects a curated program. Sensory and production garden areas compliment this offering and give patrons a holistic experience catered to their needs. A social enterprise food production business will be operated from the new training kitchen, providing patrons a means to serve the community themselves. The building will also contain hydrotherapy and training pools with moveable floors which will offer a wide range of rehabilitative options to users.
Leisure accommodation will reflect changing trends in sport with multi-purpose recreational spaces throughout the building. A larger swimming pool, games hall, gym, café, changing facilities, together with improved football and tennis facilities replace existing redundant facilities. These are designed to give the operator room to flex depending on demand throughout the calendar, catering for the school curriculum and local sports club requirements.
‘From a Client’s perspective the Allander Project was a positive experience from start to finish. The Architect’s challenge of shaping up a new building that embodied the spirit of the existing and well-loved centre on such a challenging site was met and exceeded expectations.
The process of shaping up the brief was thorough and inclusive, with engaging workshops designed to challenge and innovate. In this time of austerity, the design of health and wellbeing facilities needs to continue to adapt and evolve to ensure local authorities can provide good value for their communities. We’ve combined two tired and energy-hungry existing facilities and created an efficient and sustainable integrated Community Hub that serves everyone in the area. From a membership perspective the metrics are transformative.
At the new Allander we’ve delivered flexible facilities that will give local people an exceptional quality of experience, both now and in the future. The overall result is a warm, welcoming building that breaks down barriers, improves lives and creates synergies between sport, culture and mental health.’
David Kelly, Allander Operations Manager / East Dunbartonshire Leisure and Culture
