Healthy Living Centre, Creggan

Phases 1 & 2 of this community project included a new two-storey facility in Derry to house a variety of activities related to the promotion of healthy living and an L-shaped building that wraps around a sports pitch.

It is steel-framed and founded on traditional pad and strip foundations with a mixture of ground-bearing and suspended ground floor slabs to allow for the varying levels of bearing strata. The upper floor is precast hollowcore units supported on downstand beams while the roof comprises lightweight insulated panels, steel rafters and cold-formed purlins. This structural arrangement allowed for a quick construction program. Steelwork framing also accommodated the various architectural features more easily including changes in roof pitch, overhanging floors and conference area, stepped walls & stepped windows.

Phase 3 included changing facilities and sports hall integrated with the centre’s previous phases. Again a steel-frame was used to construct the hall and load-bearing masonry was exploited at the changing rooms to minimise requirements for additional steelwork. The floor of the sports hall meets international netball standards of area and flexibility. Radiated heaters were suspended along the slope of the roof.

Access from the building to the pitch involved a substantial difference in; retaining walls and step arrangements were designed to accommodate this.

Click to expand the photos below