100 20th-Century Sports and Leisure Buildings E-Book

Twentieth Century Society

• Herausgeber: Batsford
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 173

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

A showcase of Britain's most architecturally significant sports and leisure buildings from the twentieth century and beyond. 100 20th Century Sports and Leisure Buildings gives a fascinating insight into the spaces where we play: from swimming pools and skate parks to ice rinks and cricket pavilions. These structures are not only an intensely evocative part of our shared social heritage but some of the most architecturally innovative constructions of the past century – as seen here in buildings by architects including Edwin Lutyens, Walter Tapper, John Burnet and Zaha Hadid. The twentieth century saw a rapid expansion in the public provision for sports and leisure as workers won the right to paid holiday, prompting a boom in the construction of municipal lidos, pools and sports grounds. Later in the century leisure centres brought together facilities for a whole range of sports with an emphasis on family fun, combining environmentally controlled environments with soaring engineering and playful pop imagery. Space-age geodesic domes, diamond-glazed pyramids, castellated forts, brutalist elephants and Moorish postmodern palaces are just a few of the highlights of this idiosyncratic genre showcased here. Expert essays on particular building types, including Alan Powers on lidos and Simon Inglis on sports stadiums, give further context to these spaces. Also included is an introduction with a strong campaigning element – with the decimation of local authority budgets forcing the closure of many centres and pools, this is a timely exploration that provides a crucial record of this key part of our cultural heritage.

Leseprobe

Center Parcs, Nottinghamshire (1987).

CONTENTS

IntroductionAlistair Fair

1914–1929

1930–1939

LidosAlan Powers

1940–1969

Sports StadiumsSimon Inglis

1970–1989

The Leisure Centre BoomOtto Saumarez Smith

1990–1999

2000–present

Further Reading

Acknowledgements

Picture Credits

Index

INTRODUCTION

This book is about buildings for sports and leisure constructed in England, Scotland and Wales since 1914. On the one hand, the selection presented here tells a story of architectural diversity and innovation. It reveals something of the ebb and flow of traditionalism and modernity in twentieth-century architecture, showing how designers and their clients sought to create places which were not only functional, but which also conveyed particular ideas about the sports they housed. At the same time, the significance of these buildings also reflects their role in people’s lives. Even for those who are not keen sporting participants themselves, sports and leisure buildings often conjure up strong memories, from childhood birthday parties in swimming pools to the excitement and camaraderie of watching a team competing out on the pitch.

Although the construction of purpose-built spaces for sports and leisure dates back centuries, taking in such examples as the baths of the ancient Roman Empire or the ‘real tennis’ courts of the sixteenth century, the foundations of a new architecture of sport and leisure – and, indeed, modern sports and leisure – were laid during the nineteenth century. This period saw the rise of organized sport. The shiftwork which underpinned industrialization and later the emergence of office-based jobs created clearly defined periods of ‘non-working time’, while urbanization not only concentrated the population but also led to demands for buildings and spaces in which a degree of respite from wider urban conditions might be offered. In these circumstances, expanding Victorian towns and cities built swimming baths as symbols of municipal pride and ambition. Major urban employers constructed sports and social clubs for their workers. New suburbs featured golf courses, whose open green areas contributed to the arcadian quality of their surroundings. Sports stadia drew thousands on a regular basis, contributing to the formation of new communities and identities.

While private and commercial interests have always had a role to play in creating and operating places dedicated to sport and leisure, the selection of buildings in this book illustrates the rise of the state during the twentieth century, at both the local and national levels. Until the 1950s, provision, especially for swimming, was very much the preserve of local authorities, but subsequently leisure also assumed greater significance at a national policy level. Predictions of ever-increasing amounts of free time – created by automation, efficiency and computers, as well as by reductions in the working week and increased paid holiday entitlement – meant that provision for ‘leisure’ was a major concern by the 1960s. The Sports Council was formed in 1965 to oversee spending in ways that echoed those of the Arts Council, founded 20 years before, while an increasingly diverse range of facilities was offered to the public. In this respect, the post-war story, in particular, is one of evolution, moving from an emphasis on health, fitness and self-improvement to one in which new agendas such as ‘leisure’ and fun were to the fore. New fashions were embraced, from squash in the 1960s to roller-skating in the 1970s and skateboarding in the 1980s. New building types were invented, including multi-functional leisure centres (from the 1960s) and skateparks (from the late 1970s).

Bletchley Leisure Centre (1973), with steel pyramid above the swimming pool. Despite C20 objections, the centre was demolished in 2009.

University of Liverpool Sports Centre. Denys Lasdun and Partners (1963–6).

Sports and leisure architecture also illustrates the history of modernism, as well as its diversity. During the 1930s, ‘Art Deco’ styling imbued lidos with a fashionable touch of glamour. Modern architecture’s lack of ornament and frequently large windows evoked ideas of cleanliness and health, while concrete and steel construction drove innovation in stadium design and created clear-span spaces of sometimes dramatic character in the case of the Empire Pool at Wembley (1934) or Aberdeen’s Bon Accord Baths (1940). Yet in other cases, the connotations provided by traditional styles were preferred, creating an image felt to be appropriate in such locations as golf courses and tennis clubs.

The long period of post-war austerity meant that the construction of ‘non-essential’ buildings did not resume until the end of the 1950s. By then, modernism dominated architectural practice generally in Britain, with the picturesque, often decorative style of the Festival of Britain (1951) being increasingly joined by the boldly massed forms, directly expressed materials and structural gymnastics that were characteristic of Brutalism. As a result, the new generation of post-war leisure buildings contrasted dramatically in terms of their appearance with their Victorian, Edwardian and inter-war predecessors.

There was a particular boom in swimming pool construction from c.1960 to 1966. Ambitious provision reflected a sense that Britain had a shortage of swimming pools; meanwhile, the 1944 Education Act (in England and Wales) required that all children learn to swim. There were major developments for swimming in the new towns, while established local authorities sought to replace older Victorian baths, now seen as architecturally and functionally outdated (not least as they frequently housed separate pools for men and women, segregated also according to class). The pool in which I myself learned to swim, Tudor Grange in Solihull, was part of this boom, opening in 1964; it was demolished and rebuilt c. 2008. In parallel with these developments, the Wolfenden Report of 1960 highlighted a shortage of facilities for indoor sports other than swimming, and so prompted the construction of multi-functional centres; the National Recreation Centre at Crystal Palace was an early example (designed, in fact, from 1953), as was provision at Harlow (1959) and Billingham (1967). The new and expanding universities of this period also frequently built for sports and leisure, exploiting a funding loophole which allowed them to secure public funding provided they accommodate examinations at least twice a year, with centres at Hull, Keele, Liverpool, Sussex, Birmingham and St Andrews being among the best-equipped in Europe at the time of their construction.

These buildings’ modern image embedded them in the wider programme of construction which saw Britain’s towns and cities transformed during this period, with the dramatic forms of major structures like Cardiff’s Wales Empire Pool (1958), Coventry’s Central Baths (1966) or the Dollan Baths in East Kilbride (1968) embodying in new ways the ideas of civic pride that had shaped their Victorian forebears. As local government reorganization loomed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, some authorities, such as Billingham on Teesside, blew their capital reserves on the construction of facilities rather than hand the money to their successors.

Yet the modernism of these buildings was more than a matter of appearance. They often depended on ever more complex systems of heating, ventilation and lighting, while the structural possibilities offered by reinforced concrete, steel and laminated timber made possible the construction of ever-larger, column-free spaces. Not only were newly popular sports such as squash accommodated, but established building types were rethought. For example, the serried poolside cubicles of older swimming baths were replaced by new layouts in which changing took place below vast banks of spectator seating. Facilities were made for learners and diving enthusiasts, and large windows allowed views out and in. Standardized dimensions were set down for pools, in terms of length (33.5 metres or 110 feet to accommodate county championships) and depth (a minimum of 0.9 metres or 3 feet, to allow water polo).

New design approaches also transformed the image of commercial leisure and organized sport. The daring concrete forms of Peter Womersley’s Gala Fairydean stadium (1964) demonstrate well the ways in which the image and experience of spectating could be rethought. That said, many stadia remained relatively rudimentary for much of the twentieth century. Cantilevered stadium seating began to appear in the 1930s, and developed from the end of the 1950s, but it was only after the Hillsborough tragedy of 1989 that a new focus on safety and the requirement that large stadia be all-seated prompted a more considered approach to design and layout generally.

By the 1980s, what had previously seemed like the certainties of modernism were increasingly being questioned. Some sought to re-invent modernism through an appeal to engineering and technology, prompting the High Tech steel and fabric membranes of Lord’s Cricket Ground (1987). Others, however, sought to appeal to architecture’s past, often in playful and witty ways which made the resulting postmodernism the ideal style for a new generation of leisure centres. The rise of this type of building during the 1970s, 80s and 90s suggested a new role for the state as the enabler of fun. Subsequently, the advent of National Lottery funding after 1994 spurred the creation of a new generation of often generously specified buildings, some intended for professional as well as community users, while the 2012 London Olympics not only led to the construction of bespoke buildings by leading designers but also promised to create a new landscape of places for sport and participation.

Yet more than a decade of falling levels of public spending since then has resulted in the loss of sports and leisure facilities. Despite the clear health benefits of participating or even just spectating, some places remain at risk, with their opening hours reduced and maintenance cut back; they are sometimes dependent on volunteers to survive. C20’s ‘Leisure Centres Campaign’ was launched in 2022 following successful moves to save the Oasis Leisure Centre in Swindon, and so far has resulted in the protection of several centres through statutory listing. But it is not only leisure centres or other local authority facilities which face challenges. The rise of technology, the popularity of home-based leisure, a failure to attract young members plus the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, have all hastened the closure of some privately run facilities such as tennis and bowls clubs, their valuable urban sites often being earmarked for housing. In some cases, people have mobilized to take over assets for community use – as in, for example, the case of a former bowls club in Pollokshields, Glasgow, which now accommodates a range of activities. And the local support given to C20’s campaigns shows just how important sports and leisure buildings can be for those who live near them and use them. The creation of a new generation of private gyms and sports complexes shows that there is a demand for well-specified facilities, though architecturally these centres are rarely of note.

In these circumstances, then, the following compendium aims to shed light on the startling variety of structures built since 1914 for sports and leisure, ranging the length and breadth of England, Scotland and Wales. Our selection brings together the well known and the obscure, by designers ranging from the internationally famous to those who developed a specialism in a particular type of structure. It is a selection which includes avant-garde radicalism as well as quiet traditionalism. We hope that it will, at the very least, encourage you to find out more about these buildings and to support C20’s work by joining the society or coming to events. And maybe some readers will even feel inclined to take up a new sport!

Alistair Fair

1914 – 1929

Beaconsfield Golf Clubhouse

Location: Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire

Designed by: Stanley Hinge Hamp of Collcutt & Hamp

Opened: 1914

Listed: Grade II

One of the last significant golf course expansions before the First World War, Beaconsfield Golf Club offers a charming fantasy of Merrie England. Mixing a richly decorated medieval interior with a relaxed Tudorbethan cottage exterior, it adjoins an 18-hole course designed by leading golf course architect Henry Shapland Colt.

The brick and clay-tiled clubhouse is replete with carefully resolved and picturesque details, including two large decorative chimney stacks, which dominate the composition. While some of these details have been lost over the years, most notably the open brickwork parapet on the west façade, and the cross-hatched brickwork balustrade above the loggia, many others remain. These include circular rubbed brick columns in antis along the west elevation and the deeply recessed circular windows that flank each end of the principal elevation. The largely intact, medieval-style interior has timber panelling, oversized oak framing, plaster friezes and an abundance of carved figures.

Andrew Murray

York Racecourse Clock Tower and Indicator Boards

Location: York, North Yorkshire

Designed by: Walter Brierley of Brierley & Rutherford

Opened: 1922

Listed: Grade II

The racecourse clocktower sits prominently on a grass-covered viewing bank, within the ring of the racetrack and opposite the main stands. Accommodation for the Tote and toilets is hidden below and accessible from behind. Brierley maintained the elegant Neo-Georgian style used in his other racecourse buildings, here taking inspiration from buildings such as the garden house at Westbury Court, Gloucestershire, and eighteenth-century market halls.

It is square on plan and steel framed with a reconstituted stone Doric-columned loggia. The double-height indicator-board room is timber clad and on three sides has full height changeable boards, which list the races and runners. It has a hipped slated roof with a cupola clock. The loggia is two-storeyed on the west elevation and the upper room has shuttered windows. Purcell Architects led an extensive restoration in 2018 and it remains a much-loved landmark in the western enclosure, now renamed the Clocktower Enclosure.

Simon Green

All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club

Location: Church Road, Wimbledon, London

Designed by: Charles Stanley Peach

Opened: 1922

Despite hosting the oldest Grand Slam tennis championship, being a venue for the 2012 Olympic Games, and with parts of its Centre Court dating to the club’s move to the present site in 1922, no single element of Wimbledon’s tennis stadia, hospitality and ancillary buildings is listed as architecturally significant.

Today’s ambience results from consecutive long-term masterplans: from the 1990s in the hands of BDP; from 2011 by Grimshaw. A major expansion into adjacent parkland is now planned by Allies and Morrison.

The pervasive colours of the club have been dark green and purple since 1909, the combination finally trademarked only in 2016. The famous ‘Henman Hill’ big-screen venue dates from the 1990s re-ordering. Ingenious engineering is perhaps the greatest wonder after the players: the stately closing of the mighty concertina-style translucent roofs on Centre and No. 1 courts. The club’s large new indoor clay-court tennis centre by Hopkins is first-rate.

Hugh Pearman

Longniddry Golf Clubhouse

Location: Links Road, Longniddry, East Lothian

Designed by: James Davidson Cairns

Opened: 1922

Listed: Category B

When Longniddry was expanded after the First World War, landowner and keen golfer, the 11th Earl of Wemyss, appointed Henry Shapland Colt to design an 18-hole course on his Gosford Estate, with spectacular views across to Edinburgh and the Fife coast. The Arts and Crafts clubhouse, with club master’s house to the rear, was erected in stages, with seven years separating the two-storey main entrance block and lower, flat-roofed, courtyard-style service wing to the west. Linking them is a double-height square outlook tower, with corner window, ogee roof and weather vane. On the west façade are ball finials and an armorial panel salvaged from eighteenth-century Amisfield House, which was demolished in 1928–9.

The walls are of honey-coloured rubble stone, and the roofs hipped and slated. The entrance façade is gabled with a keystoned oculus and window bay, and an additional flat-roofed bay to the west once functioned as the starter’s box. The cosy interior has an inglenook fireplace in the lounge and panelled entrance hall.

Fiona Sinclair

Cricket Pavilion, Upper Field, Uppingham School

Location: Uppingham, Rutland

Designed by: Michael Tapper

Opened: 1923

Listed: Grade II

Uppingham’s first cricket pavilion, an iron shed, was succeeded in 1864 by a brick pavilion with an elegant veranda. On the ground’s west side, it encroached on the playing area and eventually became outdated and too small.

A better site, in the north-west corner, was found for this new pavilion. It was designed by Old Uppinghamian (and good sportsman) Michael John Tapper, son of ecclesiastical architect Walter John Tapper; they were in partnership from 1920. The stone-built pavilion offered an Arts and Crafts version of classic pavilion design. Picturesque thatching was topped by a circular turret housing the cricket bell; wooden panelling inside the long room carried honours boards; while the central gable’s clock hung above the scoring box and balcony. Due to structural problems, the balcony was removed in 2001, but reinstated during a thorough 2023–4 renovation by SDC, which also enhanced the interior.

Lynn Pearson

Tennis Clubhouse

Location: Ashworth Lane, Bolton, Lancashire

Opened: 1923

Listed: Grade II

This mock-timber tennis clubhouse by an unknown designer was built as an amenity for mill workers living in the model village of Bank Top. The village was established in the nineteenth century to serve the New Eagley Mills, owned by the Quaker Ashworth family. Although the mills had stopped spinning in 1880, they operated as weaving mills until 1940. The single-storey building has three bays with a pedimented gable above the central entrance, a decorative entablature on wrought-iron brackets and a cupola with a weather vane on the roof. Its Neo-Tudor style was a popular choice for suburban developments in the 1920s. The clubhouse was extended in 1935.

The tennis courts are the only major area of open space in the village, and form part of the Bank Top Conservation Area. The clubhouse that once served beer now houses the Bank Top Brewery, which brews 22,000 pints a week for local pubs.

Susannah Charlton

Rowheath Pavilion

Location: Bournville, Birmingham, West Midlands

Designed by: John Ramsay Armstrong

Opened: 1924

Listed: Grade II

This sports pavilion was built on the playing fields of the Cadbury’s Chocolate Factory in Bournville, serving the games played by the expanded workforce – soccer, cricket, hockey, rugby, tennis, croquet, bowling, athletics – and also acting as a venue for a range of social activities. Its main two-storey rendered brick elevation faces the grounds, with a long, arcaded ground floor between staircase turrets, a veranda above with tiled balustrade, large first floor windows, a tiled roof with central clock turret, and lower two-storey wings, the ensemble carrying more than a little hint of large cricket pavilions in India. It is set on a terrace looking down onto the boating lake.

The roadside elevation was extended several times and the grounds developed for housing. Despite this the building’s form and plan remain largely intact, and it was listed in 2017. It is now occupied by the Trinity Christian Centre Trust.

Katriona Byrne

Victoria Bowling Club

Location: Norwich, Norfolk

Designed by: Albert Havers

Opened: 1926

The Victoria Bowling Club was founded in 1870. It expanded during the interwar period, as the suburbs developed. In 1925, John Youngs, local builder and newly elected Vice-President, donated a small thatched-roof shelter aside the green. A grander, symmetrically fronted, half-timbered and thatched pavilion followed in 1926, designed by Havers, Secretary and local architect, and built by Youngs. Both speak to Stockbroker’s Tudor, but the pavilion with its veranda is also an imperial typology.

Havers’ most notable building, also in Norwich, is the chunkily baroque former Masonic Hall of 1907 (Grade II Listed). The pavilion’s construction coincided with Havers’ admission as a Fellow of the RIBA, and he died just four years later. In 1972 a firework landed on the thatched roof of the main pavilion, setting it alight. It was re-roofed with tile and the adjoining locker room built. The smaller shelter has been re-thatched in recent years.

Matthew Lloyd Roberts

Stanley Park

Location: Blackpool, Lancashire

Designed by: Thomas Mawson & Sons

Opened: 1926

Listed: Grade II*

Stanley Park was built in the aftermath of the First World War and heralded a new kind of park, inspired by fresh ideas about youth, health and exercise. Having been on the periphery of Victorian parks dominated by promenades, flower beds, seats and statuary, sports and games were now centre stage. With legislation and the rise of unions ensuring for the first time a week’s paid holiday to thousands of workers, the Blackpool Corporation was keen to attract the thousands for whom Blackpool became the seaside resort of choice.

The park took four years to construct and was opened in 1926. It incorporated a pre-existing cricket square, athletics track and nine-hole golf course, together with acres of new bowling greens and football pitches. The sports provision was complemented by formal gardens, and a 22-acre (9-hectare) lake, and later an Art Deco restaurant, all restored in the early 2000s with a large National Heritage Lottery grant.

David Lambert

Ynysangharad Lido (National Lido of Wales)

Location: Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf

Designed by: William Lowe, Surveyor, Pontypridd District Council

Opened: 1927

Listed: Grade II