The Pods is a leisure centre in

Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire Scunthorpe () is an industrial town and unparished area in the unitary authority of North Lincolnshire in Lincolnshire, England of which it is the main administrative centre. Scunthorpe had an estimated total population of 82,334 in 2016. A pr ...

, England. The leisure centre offers a wide range of modern facilities, including two

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...

s, a

gym A gymnasium, also known as a gym, is an indoor location for athletics. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasium". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learning spaces in educational ins ...

, a

café A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-ca ...

and a

Sports Hall The following is a list of indoor arenas. Africa Asia Europe North America Canada United States Oceania South America See also *Arena *Stadium *Sport venue *Lists of stadiums *List of buildings *List of music venu ...

. The leisure centre is located in the town's Central

Park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

near Ashby Road. The Pods is reported to be built the highest environmental standards and is aiming for a ‘excellent' BREAAM environmental rating. It has grey water

recycling Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the p ...

, a

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boiler, and the roof is partly covered with the

sedum ''Sedum'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Crassulaceae, members of which are commonly known as stonecrops. The genus has been described as containing up to 600 species, subsequently reduced to 400–500. They are leaf succulen ...

plants. Hexagonal panels and panes of glass have been used to create the building's dome shaped roofs, which is of a similar style to Cornwall's

Eden Project The Eden Project ( kw, Edenva) is a visitor attraction in Cornwall, England, UK. The project is located in a reclaimed china clay pit, located from the town of St Blazey and from the larger town of St Austell.Ordnance Survey (2005). ''OS E ...

. North Lincolnshire have provided a large pond and

car park A parking lot (American English) or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surfac ...

built next to the leisure centre. The park and children's play areas around The Pods have also been refurbished in a two million pound restoration, completed in January 2011. Around it there is a park and tennis courts.

Construction, funding and opening

Bowmer and Kirkland won the building contract and started the construction in October 2009, and as mentioned above; it is expected to be completed by Spring/Summer 2011. Plans to build the leisure centre were confirmed over two years before the actual start date of construction, but were delayed due to financial issues. Other than the council, the project has received funding from

Sport England Sport England is a non-departmental public body under the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Its role is to build the foundations of a community sport system by working with national governing bodies of sport, and other funded par ...

and

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An accidental explosion in which several contractors working on the site were injured took place on the 17th of June 2011. The Pods was voted the most sustainable building/development of 2011 at the Property Industry Awards Yorkshire.

Other ongoing projects to the surrounding area

The construction of the leisure centre came with a large wave of other improvements to Scunthorpe. The town's ''Baths Hall'' on Doncaster Road underwent a multi-million pound restoration project and the building is capable of holding professional concerts and conferences. The style of the new venue is similar to

Grimsby Auditorium Grimsby Auditorium is a theatre situated on Cromwell Road, in Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire. With a seated audience capacity of 1,200 the Grimsby Auditorium is the largest professional theatre in Lincolnshire, and one of the larger theatres i ...

. The town's earlier Leisure Centre in Carlton Road, which was only 27 years old, was demolished before work finished on The Pods. The Carlton road site was sold for commercial development.

References

Sports venues in Scunthorpe {{England-sports-venue-stub