Sustainability

Sustainability measures

Sustainability is at the heart of each and every aspect of Ravelin Sports Centre’s design, making it an asset to the city of Portsmouth. We are aiming to create new standards for sustainability and energy efficiency. The building's design has already received an ‘Outstanding’ rating from BREEAM UK, the world’s leading sustainability assessment for buildings.

Green roof

The roof is home to 684 solar panels and a biodiverse green roof system. Instead of boilers, we also have rooftop heat pumps that take heat from the air and from people working out in the fitness suite.

Natural light and ventilation

Located in Ravelin Park, Museum Road, the Centre’s spaces exploit natural light and ventilation. The sports hall is located at the top of the building, allowing for natural light from its roof lights to minimise energy consumption. The 8 lane swimming pool on the ground floor is glazed, enabling swimmers to have views of the natural green spaces outside, creating the feeling of open-air swimming in the park.

Recycling water

To limit water use in Ravelin Sports Centre - pool water is reused for toilet flushing and the new community orchard is part of a sustainable drainage system.

Developing biodiversity

The urban orchard is situated just outside the building. We preserved as many of the existing trees as possible and for every tree that was lost, three have been planted to replace it. We have planted around 140 new trees. Bat and bird boxes and a wildflower amphitheatre events space develop biodiversity in the surrounding parkland.

Facade

The cladding of the building is made up of 13,948 individual terracotta baguettes to give a distinctive look and feel of natural colour and textures. There are 6 different natural earthy colours picked to reflect the surrounding heritage buildings. Traditionally, terracotta is a mix of clay and water, with no chemical additives. Dating back to the Babylonians, it is a proven material known for its durability and sustainability.

The facade of the sports hall is also made up of Eurobond panels that contain a high recycled content and have zero global warming and ozone depletion potential.

As you can probably tell, we were incredibly conscious of ensuring that our outstanding sports centre only provides environmental benefits and not drawbacks. If you are looking to find out more information about our overall plan to become more sustainable, visit our sustainability page.