The new leisure centre will be built this autumn as part of the Wokingham town centre redevelopment project
CARNIVAL POOL is now in the final stages of demolition, as part of the Wokingham town centre regeneration.
The borough council has now taken over the offices formerly known as Southgate House and work to demolish the offices on Wellington Road will start soon.
This will make way for the multi-million pound complex, featuring a new larger leisure centre and library.
Insurance brokers BJP, who were based in Southgate House on Wellington Road have been relocated to the newly refurbished Alexandra House offices in the Plaza.
And Alexandra House has been renamed Southgate House by the council to help BJP transition to the new site
Demolition work will be completed by the end of the summer, and building will start on the new complex in autumn.
What’s inside?
Once finished, the facilities will be run by the borough council’s partner Places Leisure.
It will feature two swimming pools. One a six-lane 25m pool and the other a teaching pool with moveable depth floor and splash pad.
There will be a larger fitness suite and specialist group cycling studio; large studios; a four-court sports hall which can convert into a 400 seat performance venue; a spa, a health and wellbeing centre; larger café; and viewing areas.
The library
There will also be a large library including space for events and activities, a lending library, children’s zone and space for exhibitions.
Wokingham Library will continue in its current Denmark Street location until the new complex is complete and ready to move into.
Energy efficient changes
The borough council has now submitted a planning application for minor design changes to the leisure complex, which will improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions.
The updated designs include new air source heat pumps and additional solar panels.
Cllr Charlotte Haitham Taylor, executive member for regeneration, said: “These changes to the design of the new Carnival complex are being driven by our response to the climate emergency action plan.
“Our original designs were approved back in 2017 and, whilst the new building was energy efficient, we felt that more could be done.
“Taking the time to review the designs has allowed us to significantly improve performance across the site, with the centre now achieving a massive 117% carbon reduction above the government baseline target, compared to the original designs 13.2%.
“This supports our ambitions to reduce carbon emissions from the complex, as well as reducing our operating costs.
“We remain committed to providing fantastic facilities for all our residents to enjoy and this new multi-million centre is an important facility not only for sport and leisure but the library service too.”
