The indoor sports facility in Ravelin Park will be open for the arrival of students and existing members in September and, from Saturday 1 October, will welcome new members from the community to the new Ravelin Sports Centre.
The attractive design of the Sports Centre reflects its parkland setting and it includes a host of high quality facilities including an eight court sports hall, eight lane 25m swimming pool, 175 station fitness suite, multipurpose studios, squash courts, a climbing and bouldering wall rising from the basement through the building and a ski simulator.
In addition, the building will be one of the UK’s most sustainable sports centres. The design received a top rating of ‘Outstanding’ from BREEAM UK, the world’s leading sustainability assessment for buildings, and is set to achieve a BREEAM outstanding rating for its construction. The swimming pool will be naturally lit, with natural ventilation used where possible to minimise energy usage with water conservation measures in place such as the pool water being reused to flush the toilets. A wildflower amphitheatre events space will develop biodiversity in the surrounding areas.
Prof Graham Galbraith CBE, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Portsmouth said, “Ravelin Park is a truly exceptional Sports Centre with first class high quality facilities, designed and constructed to the highest specifications of sustainability. It’s tremendously exciting that we can now look forward to our students and community enjoying one of the best sports facilities in the UK.
“This is a landmark building for the University and for the City of Portsmouth and will provide an amazing experience for everyone who uses it."
Improvements to Ravelin Park are already completed, including an entrance plaza between the sports building and the University Library, new pedestrian routes, a wildflower meadow and an urban orchard, more trees in the park and opening up views to the historic buildings on Museum Road.
