St Sidwell’s Point leisure centre

Description

A Passivhaus is a building with a very low space heating requirement, achieved through mainly passive measures. Solus supplied this ground-breaking project, the first of its kind in the world, with over 9500m2 of tiles. Tiles were essential not only for the requirements of the building's usage but also to achieve the sealed, heat-retaining, and high-mass surfaces required by the Passivhaus building standards.

Tiles Used

Halogen, Glisten, Technici, Gres 4, Format, Gripstone, Angulate, Articulate, Landscape and more.

Outcome

Exeter City Council unveiled their £44million Passivhaus leisure centre in the heart of the city at St Sidwell’s Point. The building is energy intelligent, capturing and retaining heat, filtering air and water, and redirecting and repurposing them via a sophisticated Building Management System.

Ceramics played a critical role in energy management as they create surfaces that are high-mass, heat-retaining, and sealed. Solus’ Head of London Sales, Michael Irvine worked closely with designer Christine Hartigan and finishing expert Damian Lidstone to advise on and coordinate the supply of over 9,500m2 of tiles in a variety of contexts. High footfall, bare and shod feet, and wet and dry floors meant the surfaces had to be impeccable.

The feature wall in the swimming pool is striking, as is the mosaic work throughout the spa. Damian and Michael are particularly pleased with the tiling in the spa which incorporates beautiful hexagonal tiles that permit a curving path through the facility.

Keith Ashton, the CEO of Space & Place had this to say, “St Sidwell’s Point is a truly pioneering project. We’ve worked with Solus on many sports facilities, and they have always been as passionate as us in making sure the end-product delivers on the strategic brief.”