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The new 90-station Club Pulse fitness suite at Goldsmiths was born out of a ‘Save Our Sports’ campaign, initiated by the Goldsmiths Students’ Union back in the year 2000. At this point, fitness facilities at Goldsmiths simply didn’t exist. For sports fans, there was the main sports hall and outdoor pitches, but no provision for workouts or wellness.
An informal sports and leisure working group was established and a survey undertaken of the demand for facilities. The main recommendation – for a dedicated sports manager to deliver a new fitness gym – led to the 2003 appointment of Neil Rogers as sports development and activities manager. Then began a lengthy planning process.
“For Goldsmiths, the project had to meet four key objectives: to boost student recruitment and retention; widen participation through community usage; meet the requirements of the college’s estates strategy; and promote its HR strategy by aiding staff recruitment, retention and wellbeing,” says Rogers. “The student union, meanwhile, wanted the facility to enhance the portfolio of student activities; appeal to wider demographics; demonstrate that students’ needs were represented and being responded to; and to fulfil what was to be a five-year campaign.”
In October 2004, the Project Plan and Options Appraisal was formulated, covering everything from user requirements and local provision to procurement options and operational considerations. This passed through all stages of approval by the end of the year.
With no capital funding and little fitness expertise, Goldsmiths needed to get a partner on board to fund, design, build and operate the gym. A tendering process began in March 2005. Pulse was deemed to offer the best options in terms of the level of refurbishment, investment, operational delivery and income, and draft contracts were issued in June 2005. However, six further months of negotiation by Goldsmiths – “to ensure the best deal for students and staff,” says Rogers – meant work onsite did not begin until March 2006.
The project is Pulse’s largest university fitness development to date. A similar, but slightly less complex, facility opened at Middlesex University two and a half years ago. Business manager for Pulse, Aron Nassim, says the higher education market is one in which he hopes Pulse can become more involved. “Universities are not just centres for learning; they have the potential to be the hub of local communities,” he says.
There is now an active encouragement for schools, colleges and universities to offer more than just education; to offer sports and leisure facilities, arts and entertainment, conferences and exhibitions, and employment and volunteering opportunities. This philosophy is one held strongly by Goldsmiths. Rogers says: “The facility is designed to help further our Widening Participation aims and objectives, which are of great importance to the institution.
“We operate a range of community projects, volunteering opportunities and projects to raise the aspirations of local youths, including: volunteer community sports coaching; award-winning schemes like Open Book, which supports students from offending and addiction background to change their lives through education; and Inmates, which recruits, trains and develops students to become official prison visitors.”
So what does the partnership with Pulse entail? As well as Goldsmiths’ lengthy planning process, Pulse conducted a full feasibility study – carried out by an independent company – to demonstrate a number of financial solutions and illustrate likely outcomes. For Goldsmiths, a full package was needed and a 10-year Pulse Investment and Operational Partnership was established. Under this, Pulse agreed to design, construct, project manage and deliver the facility, as well as continue to staff, market and manage the operations, with a £790,000 investment by the company. Operating on an incomeshare basis, the partnership transfers commercial obligation to Pulse – which pays all operational and staff costs including the capital and interests costs – with the university keeping a percentage of the profits. Goldsmiths, however, retains ownership of the facilities.
The design brief was to create a facility to meet the needs of Goldsmiths’ internal market, but also to provide a
first class, private sector style facility for the community. From the outset, Rogers worked very closely with Pulse – as he continues to do today – to ensure the facility suited Goldsmiths as well as Pulse’s commercial needs and resources. “I am responsible for overseeing the administration and development of Goldsmiths’ sports facilities; the development of student clubs and competition; managing coaching provision; staff and student recreation provision, and volunteer coaching in the community. As such, I oversee the partnership with Pulse and performance management of the contract,” he explains.
The build was a 12-week contract, starting on 20 March last year and finishing, on schedule, on 12 June. Over this time, several building challenges had to be overcome. Prior to work starting, asbestos elements had to be removed and the walls dry-lined as a result of water penetration to the building caused by failed tanking. The whole sports building site is a conservation area, so listed building consent also had to be agreed before construction began.
Nassim says that, from the outset, the building had huge potential. “What we didn’t do” he says, “was just add a
mezzanine floor to create more space. We wanted to achieve a funky design.”
The creation of the mezzanine floor, though an obvious solution to maximising space, was more complicated than expected. The height of the hall – 5.9m – restricted floor-to-ceiling heights and the minimum heights of 2.6m - 2.7m, also dictated by Pulse Fitness were only just manageable.
Another challenge was that the project was undertaken during Goldsmiths’ exam period, meaning hours of work were restricted due to noise levels. “The contractor diverted work to other areas and worked out of sequence to ensure we didn’t slip behind,” says Nassim.
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