Abbey Leisure Centre is a £14m, 4,500m², leisure facility offering a main six lane pool, 25m x 12.5m, and a separate teaching pool, café, dance studios, martial arts studio, and a large fitness suite with 140 workstations offering the latest cardiovascular, resistance and free weights equipment. It also provides a children’s soft play facility and a health suite with spa hydrotherapy pool, rock sauna, 3 steam rooms and relaxation areas.

Project brief: London Borough of Dagenham & Barking commissioned WBM to work with the design team on the initial acoustic planning and design of the project and subsequently WBM were appointed by the main contractor, Wilmott Dixon Construction, to provide detailed advice from developing designs right through to construction and compliance testing at completion.

Acoustic aspects: This complex 2-storey building with swimming pools, health suite, café, dance and martial arts studio, and large fitness suite, together with significant plant on 24 hour operation, presented a diverse, interesting, though sometimes challenging, project in terms of acoustics where high noise areas sit adjacent to acoustically sensitive ones.

Outcome: WBM worked closely with the clients architects, AFLS+P and Wilmott Dixon Construction and their architects Saunders Boston, to establish effective acoustic solutions for plant and activity noise control and high quality internal acoustics appropriate for a multi-functional building with a strong sports focus. The building opened to the public in March 2015 extending the borough’s leisure portfolio which also includes Becontree Heath Leisure Centre (opened in 2011).