One integrated building

The women’s gym is the commercial and social anchor of the ground floor. It is proposed as a single-sex training environment throughout, with generous circulation, clear sightlines and a layout that separates cardio, resistance and free-weight zones rather than compressing them into one room.

• Approximately 200 training stations proposed
• Single-sex at all times, for women and girls only
• Cardio, resistance, free-weight and stretch zones
• Direct access to changing, recovery and physiotherapy

The strength and conditioning gym is a performance environment rather than a general commercial gym. High ceilings, robust sports flooring, clearly marked zones and correct lifting-platform spacing allow squad sessions to run without compromise, in direct working relationship with physiotherapy, recovery and the changing rooms.

• Approximately 40 major equipment stations proposed
• Lifting platforms, racks and an integrated sprint lane
• Sized for full squad sessions
• Women’s and girls’ training only

Two of the four proposed full-size pitches are laid out for football. They are intended to support an academy pathway, club and county use, schools programmes and community participation, with all training and play reserved for women and girls.

• Two full-size grass football pitches proposed
• Correct markings, goals and floodlighting
• Academy pathway, club, schools and community use
• Direct access from the athlete spine and changing rooms

The remaining two pitches are laid out for rugby. Football and rugby share a great deal — strength and conditioning demands, injury profiles, analysis workflows and community structures — and occupy complementary calendars, which improves year-round utilisation of the whole site.

• Two full-size grass rugby pitches proposed
• H-shaped posts and correct markings
• Complementary seasonal calendar to football
• No stadium, grandstands or spectator seating proposed

The recovery suite is deliberately compact and specified for performance benefit rather than leisure. No swimming pool is proposed: the capital and running costs are disproportionate to the benefit, and the space is better invested in training, treatment and recovery.

• Sauna and heat provision
• Hot and cold immersion, contrast bathing
• Compression recovery and massage
• Recovery memberships and add-on packages proposed

Physiotherapy is proposed with its own reception and identity, positioned between the treatment area and the strength and conditioning hall so that rehabilitation, reconditioning and return-to-play work happen in the same building as the work that caused the injury.

• Four treatment rooms and a medical room
• Rehabilitation gym and reconditioning space
• Sports medicine and injury prevention
• Open to academy athletes, members and referred patients

A compact set-back rooftop level is proposed as the building’s hospitality signature: a fully enclosed indoor bar and lounge with an adjoining covered and open outdoor terrace. Restrained in scale and usable year-round, it is served by the building’s single commercial kitchen.

• Indoor bar and lounge, plus an outdoor terrace
• Views across all four football and rugby pitches
• Match-day hospitality, events and private functions
• A potential members’ club and naming-rights opportunity

The conference and events suite is designed to earn its keep across the week and the year. The same square metres can host coach education on a Tuesday, a corporate conference on a Wednesday and a school leadership programme on a Thursday, with an awards evening on the Saturday.

• Corporate conferences and away days
• Coach education and governing-body courses
• Awards evenings and presentations
• Sponsor events and product launches

A single commercial kitchen is proposed to serve the café, restaurant, members’ lounge, rooftop bar, event catering, team and academy meals and athlete meal plans — spreading one fixed cost across several trading occasions and audiences. These are public spaces, open to men and women alike.

• Daily café and restaurant trade
• Athlete meal plans and team catering
• Members’ lounge and family dining
• Retail crossover with merchandise and nutrition

A crèche with a secure garden is proposed alongside the public frontage. For many women, childcare is the single largest barrier to regular training. Provision would be subject to registration, staffing ratios, safeguarding policy, insurance and operator approval.

• Crèche with secure, overlooked garden
• Gym-and-crèche membership packages
• Camp and holiday childcare provision
• Return-to-play pathways and screening

The Founders’ Wall is proposed as a built element of the entrance atrium rather than signage: engraved brass and timber plaques on a matte black fluted wall, washed in violet light, with a complementary digital display allowing founders’ names, contributions and stories to be presented in more depth over time.

• Five recognition levels, from Community to Legacy Founder
• Engraved metal plaques in consistent typography
• Complementary digital founders’ display
• Designed for expansion over time