Increase Efficiencies
Latymer Upper School Benefits From New State-of the-Art Sports Centre and Gym
Students at Latymer Prep and Latymer Upper School, an independent day school located on the banks of the Thames on Kings Street in Hammersmith, West London, are to benefit from a new sports centre. The £14 million, two-floor facility featuring a fitness suite, swimming pool and three studios, will replace the old sports centre constructed in the 1970’s.
Built initially as an all-boys education establishment, the schools old sports centre was rundown, outdated and in desperate need of renewal. To blend in with the other re-modernised buildings throughout the school and to reflect the fact the school is now co-educational and provides a high level of sports training, Latymer has invested in a completely new sports centre with state-of-the-art amenities that will support a wide range of sports within the school and with partnerships in the local community.
Due for completion in January 2016, demolition of the old sports centre commenced in April through June 2015 and, preceding this, an extension to a private subway leading to the riverside boathouse was built in the summer of 2014.
Previously gym equipment had been located in a small room at the back of the old sports hall. Now the school will benefits from a dedicated 169 square metre gym, showcasing Precor cardiovascular equipment, including five new Next-Generation Experience Series Treadmills. The treadmills are all fitted with Preva networked fitness, with a view to incorporating and developing IT as part of the PE and games programme. The fitness suite also features the Precor Discovery Strength range, comprising a converging shoulder press, seated leg press and diverging pulldown, along with an Icarian incline lever row, Icarian superbench and three Concept II rowers.
The Precor fitness suite and three additional studios are located on the upper floor above the swimming pool. Separated by retractable acoustic walls, the three studios can be divided into either individual spaces or combined to make two areas – one standard and one double space - and will be used for fitness, fencing, yoga, Zumba and other classes, as well as for large conferences and as an exam hall for up to 250 students. In addition, one of the studios also benefits from a full width four metre high bouldering wall, while a second wall within one of the rooms features body weight equipment. Above the studios overlooking the pool area is a 6m high Reglit glass ceiling which gives the impression of a glowing glass box, making a spectacular showpiece at night.
A new 25 metre swimming pool replaces the old pool and gains an additional five metres in width, increasing it from four lanes to six. At one end, the pool also features a floating floor enabling the depth to be decreased to six inches over a 12 metre area.
The main sports hall features five cricket nets and markings for football, netball, basketball and hockey, and the complex provides six dry and two wet changing rooms for pupils, as well as two dry and two wet changing areas for staff.
Tallan Gill, Director of Sport at Latymer Upper School comments: “Precor has a reputation for quality and after sales service and the equipment suited our sporting and IT requirements. Latymerians take their sport and exercise very seriously and it was important for us to have equipment that matches our high quality training and expectations.”
While the new sports facilities will be used primarily by the schools’ 1,390 students and sporting clubs, they will also be used as part of local community partnerships as well as offering parents a sports and fitness facility.
Justin Smith, Head of UK at Precor states: “The new state-of-the-art complex sets Latymer Upper School firmly on the map and will enable its pupils to thrive in the sporting arena. The dedicated fitness suite provides students, staff and parents with a high-tech gym featuring innovative equipment that everyone can benefit from.”
