Perth Academy for Sport and Well-being
Six badminton court sports hall, with gyms and dance studios including a hair and beauty department and state of the art climbing centre and classrooms.
Project Challenges
We have faced a variety of challenges throughout our time developing sports halls. Each project generally presents its own set of complications, sometimes relating to existing structures, surrounding areas or site conditions and in other cases, it’s purely about budget, keeping numerous funding partners happy, or meeting a deadline.
Project Challenges
Our biggest challenge was the timescales that had to be achieved for this project.
Within the new facility, the college were proposing to start a new curriculum for sport and were moving across their expanding Hair and Beauty department. These plans were to commence at the start of the new academic year in September 2016.
This meant the completion and delivery dates were absolutely fixed and we had to keep to a strict schedule to achieve them.
The climbing centre that was planned as part of the facility, was groundbreaking. It needed to be suitable for new and experienced climbers, as well as performance climbing athletes. Therefore, we worked in partnership with the Mountaineering Council of Scotland (now known as Mountaineering Scotland) and Sport Scotland. There were many other stakeholders, from the college’s Sports department, the Health and Beauty Department to commercial sport and elite sport programs.
Project Solution
Each unique set of circumstances, is thought about and considered, in depth, by Ball Hall at the outset of the project. We bring all of our previous experience and expertise to the fore and try where possible, to apply a combination of creative and pragmatic thinking to problem solve in each case.
Project Solutions
We monitored contractors closely to improve the program of works. For example, the steelwork lead time was longer than expected, being informed on this, meant we could ensure that it was ordered significantly in advance, for delivery as the project required.
We kept all the partners on board throughout the project by keeping them fully informed. Our regular coordinated project management reports enabled us to show on-schedule progress and demonstrate our risk management strategies.
Ball Hall Added Value
With all the difficulties of a project considered upfront and contingency built in for unforeseen events or conditions, Ball Hall deliver outstanding buildings for sport. A Ball Hall Sports Hall often exceeds expectation and consistently becomes a flag waving celebration for the organisation, with many further benefits that materialise over time.
Ball Hall Added Value
We built a strong team ethos on the project, where every party pulled in the same direction, with the deadline in mind.
We adopted innovative techniques such as replacing traditional wall tiling with Altro Whiterock.
Another example of where we added value was with the brickwork. Constructing brick work is notoriously difficult in cold temperatures and whilst it was not a surprise that there was bad weather throughout the winter months in Scotland, we incorporated Metsec steel stud panel framing on the inner skin to enable early water-tightness.
Ball Hall's expertise and foresight in planning for this, meant the project was built on time even through a Highland winter.
