Derby City Council and Sports England, with the support of British Cycling, have joint-funded the development of one of the UK’s first Olympic legacy projects – the Derby Multi-Sports Arena.
The futuristic 14,500m2 facility has been constructed next to the iPro Stadium on Pride Park and includes a 250m indoor cycling track, a sports infield the size of 13 badminton courts, and a state-of-the-art 140 station gym.
In addition to bringing 21st Century sports and leisure facilities to the city for public use, the arena also serves as a new venue for concerts and other events, with a capacity for around 5,000 people.
The exterior of the building is clad in lines of bronze, silver and gold to represent the Olympic medals and stands as an imposing futuristic looking structure on Derby’s skyline. The architects were keen to produce an iconic building, and the edges of the structure curve and bellow outwards creating an overhang, which in some areas is close to head height.
For this reason, contractor Bowmer & Kirkland set about finding a manufacturer who could provide an aesthetically pleasing deterrent paving solution, which would not only compliment the look of the building, but prevent members of the public from walking too close to the overhanging design elements of the exterior façade.
In addition to the deterrent paving, the project also required an attractive and durable paving solution for the main pedestrian approach, which would complement the futuristic design-led style of the building whilst ticking all the boxes for performance and durability.
Solution
The Charcon commercial hard landscaping division from Aggregate Industries was selected for both the deterrent paving solution and main pedestrian approach, thanks to the company’s extensive portfolio of durable and stylish paving solutions – which includes a variety of colours to compliment the design of any project.
The company supplied Charcon Portuguese Granite, which was used as the deterrent paving solution for the full perimeter of the building, as well as a substantial quantity of its Charcon Andover Textured premium pre-cast concrete paving in Silver Grey and Midnight Grey. This was supplied in a linear flag format to provide both a high quality main pedestrian approach to the arena whilst also complementing its futuristic metallic cladding envelope.
Thanks to the extensive portfolio of Charcon commercial paving solutions, Derby’s Multi-Sports Arena will now benefit from stylish, functional and durable paving which is sure to last for as long as the arena itself.
Testimonial
“With the support of the Charcon team, we were able to develop a palette of paving materials to meet the demands for an economical but high quality approach to the building” – Andrew Roe, Associate Director at Wardell Armstrong Architects
Summary
The Derby Multi-Sports Arena is one of many iconic developments that Charcon has been involved with. Other recent projects have included Heathrow Terminal 2: The Queen’s Terminal, Leicester Greyfriars Conservation Area, the Wythenshawe Interchange and Birley Fields.
