International multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy Buro Happold has won The Institute of Structural Engineers (IStructE) Yorkshire Branch, Structural Engineering Excellence - Building Award 2011 for Scunthorpe Sports Centre. 

Completed in July 2011 and standing as a landmark against the town’s Central Park, the state-of-the art sports and leisure facility, known locally as ‘The Pods’, features five, gently curving, timber geodesic domes encompassing an eight-lane 25 metre pool, a learner pool, sports hall, gym and cafe. The facility represents the centrepoint of Scunthorpe’s regeneration plans.

Buro Happold offered a range of engineering services including structural and geotechnical complemented by fire design and risk assessment consultation and specialist part L modelling.  To ensure the construction of the complex structure, the team used in-house optimisation software to fully map the location and angle of all the timber beam positions for the pod’s gridshell.  The domes are clad in a mixture of timber, sedum and rubber membranes to help it blend into the surrounding vista.

The judges said:  “The complex geometry of the glued laminated timber beams combined in a triangular arrangement with cylindrical steel nodes to form a series of intersecting domes creates an impressive internal space with a high quality feel.  The use of cranked internal steel beams and supporting columns at the dome intersections is a neat and visually simple solution to a challenging geometrical problem.

“There is clear evidence of a successful integrated design methodology employed by the structural engineer and the architect to meet the aesthetic and spatial demands of the brief.”