• Upfront feasibility planning;
• A facility designed for profitability, and
• Professional Management.

The leisure centre was designed to replace an existing swimming pool and provides for a range of leisure activities to meet the various needs of all the community it serves. A Malone O’Regan led multi-disciplinary team was first commissioned to carry out a feasibility study for a Swimming Pool in Monaghan Town. A market and analysis was carried out to assess if there was a demand for indoor swimming facilities in the Monaghan catchment, and if so to determine how such a facility might be developed and operated. The terms of reference included:

• Assessment of the market potential for a 25m swimming pool facility in Monaghan Town;
• Recommendation of the standard, range and scale of facilities that would best meet the local needs;
• Estimation of the likely costs of development;
• Identification of best practice for the management of the facility; and,
• Projection of the likely annual income potential and expenditure for the operation of the facility in order to establish whether a project would be viable.

Our team was subsequently retained for the detailed design, procurement and construction of the new facility. Facilities include:

• 25m Swimming Pool
• 25m Flume
• Kids Pool
• Sauna/ Steam Room
• Jacuzzi
• Gymnasium – fully equipped with a wide range of cardiovascular and resistance equipment
• Aerobic Studio
• Tourist Office
• Tennis Courts

Robustness is one of the main requirements for the design of leisure centres, given that they are used so intensively. The large pool hall space is spanned with a glulam structure to overcome the challenge for the main structure to have a guaranteed life of 60 years with minimal maintenance. Not only were the structural elements in a corrosive chlorine atmosphere but also located in an area of difficult access for maintenance. The roof profile maximises natural daylight penetration to the space resulting in a very pleasant user environment.