Morgan Sindall Construction's London business has officially handed over the Woolwich Waves Leisure Centre to the Royal Borough of Greenwich, marking the completion of one of the UK’s largest urban leisure facilities.

The £80 million development, procured through the Southern Construction Framework (SCF), is located in the heart of Woolwich town centre and forms a key part of the Royal Borough of Greenwich's wider regeneration programme.

Working closely with the council, Morgan Sindall designed and delivered the three-storey leisure centre as an inclusive facility that supports physical activity for all users, including people with disabilities and those living with dementia. Due to the constrained nature of the site, the project team adopted a stacked design, locating the sports hall, gym and cardio suites on the upper floors.

Throughout the build, Morgan Sindall applied its Intelligent Solutions approach to deliver the 12,800 m² facility, incorporating advanced fit-out elements such as anti-vibration steelwork to optimise performance and user experience across the various leisure and sporting spaces.

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The completed centre provides a wide range of facilities for the Woolwich community, including four swimming pools, a large splash play area with sensory features, a luxury spa, a six-court sports hall, an indoor five-a-side football pitch, a two-level gym, dance and spinning studios, and two squash courts. Additional amenities include flexible community spaces, a kitchen, café, crèche, party rooms and a soft play area. Two studios are also linked to the neighbouring Tramshed theatre and community arts hub.

Sustainability has been a central focus of the project. The leisure centre features a planted green roof and one of the largest Air Source Heat Pump (ASHP) arrays ever commissioned in the UK. The ASHP system supplies the building’s basement energy centre, providing low-carbon heating to the leisure centre and the adjacent Tramshed venue. In future phases, the system will also serve more than 500 new apartments currently under construction.

The building is on track to achieve a BREEAM Outstanding rating, which would make it only the second leisure centre in the UK to reach this benchmark for sustainable construction.

In line with Morgan Sindall’s commitment to social value, the project prioritised the use of a local supply chain and created 31 new jobs. A Knowledge Quad was established on site to strengthen links between industry and education, enabling the delivery of two Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) training programmes. As a result, 20 individuals gained CSCS cards, including 10 residents from Greenwich.

The project team also delivered a 14-week accredited construction study programme for young people aged 16 to 18 who were not in mainstream education, employment or training. Delivered on site, the programme provided practical experience and insight into careers in construction, leading to 39 individuals being placed on apprenticeship programmes.

Woolwich Waves Leisure Centre was delivered in collaboration with FaulknerBrowns Architects, Buro Happold Engineers, Arup fire consultants and Max Fordham acoustics consultants, alongside client-side advisers Hadron Consulting, Gleeds, Van Zyl & de Villiers and DB3.