In 1971 Laing announced they would be constructing a leisure centre at Bletchley for Bletchley Urban District Council, to replace an outdoor swimming pool. Further contracts covered Phase II and Phase III and included a swimming pool, squash courts, a boating lake and ancillary works. The swimming pool structure was built as a pyramid using a Unibat Space Frame: typically used to build horizontal roofs, at the Bletchley Leisure Centre the system was used to form the 45 degree sides of the pyramid using smaller pyramidal units. The sides of the pyramid were lifted into position over two days in May 1973. The structure was then glazed in Plexiglass panels. The swimming pool was opened in February 1974 and the whole complex was completed later that year. A new leisure centre was opened in 2009, replacing the centre built by Laing.
This image was catalogued as part of the Breaking New Ground Project in partnership with the John Laing Charitable Trust in 2019-20.
This is part of the Series: JLP01/08 John Laing Photographic Collection Black and White Negatives; within the Collection: JLP01 John Laing Photographic Collection
© Historic England Archive. John Laing Photographic Collection
Late 20th Century Recreation Centre, Late 20th Century Swimming Pool, Leisure And Recreation, Construction
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