Ravenshead Leisure Centre: Acoustic Panelling in a Sports and Leisure Facility

Ravenshead Leisure Centre is a community sports and wet leisure facility in Ravenshead, Nottinghamshire. Eastledge installed acoustic wall panelling across the principal sports and leisure spaces to address the reverberation levels characteristic of large-volume facilities with hard structural surfaces. The work was delivered around the centre's operational programme, keeping the majority of the facility accessible to members throughout.

The brief

Sports halls and wet leisure areas present one of the more demanding acoustic environments in the commercial built environment. The combination of hard reflective surfaces (block and tile walls, concrete floors, profiled metal or concrete roof decks) with large volumes and high occupancy produces reverberation times that can make normal verbal communication difficult. For a facility serving community members across a range of activities including team sports, fitness classes and wet leisure, the acoustic environment has a direct effect on the experience and safety of the space.

The brief at Ravenshead called for acoustic wall panelling that would provide meaningful absorption across the primary sports and leisure spaces, reduce reverberation and be specified appropriately for the wet and humid conditions that pool and pool-surround areas require. Product selection for wet leisure environments differs from dry commercial fit-out: panels need to resist moisture, withstand cleaning regimes and maintain acoustic and aesthetic performance over the service life of the facility.

Acoustic wall panel installation

Moisture-resistant acoustic panels were installed across the sports hall and leisure spaces. Panel systems for wet leisure environments use moisture-resistant cores, impermeable or semi-permeable facings and fixings selected to resist corrosion under humid conditions. The panels are fixed to the existing wall structure at intervals calculated to distribute absorption effectively across each space.

Setting out the panel layout accounts for existing wall features, penetrations, service outlets and perimeter conditions at floor and ceiling. Fixing to masonry or block wall substrates in a leisure environment requires wall assessment before installation to confirm bearing capacity and surface suitability.

How we worked

The installation was sequenced around the leisure centre's programming calendar, with each zone taken offline for the duration of the installation work and returned to use before the next zone was opened. Wet leisure areas require additional site discipline: waterproof compound management, tool and material protection and clean-down procedures before any zone is returned to public use.

The leisure centre remained operational throughout the project, with the majority of facilities available to members at all times. Coordination with the centre's management team established the working windows, access routes and daily handover protocol before work began.

Outcome

The completed acoustic panelling installation across the sports hall and leisure spaces provides broad-spectrum absorption on the wall planes, reducing reverberation and the build-up of ambient noise under occupancy. The specification selected for the wet leisure environment is appropriate to the humidity and cleaning regime the facility requires.

For more on acoustic panelling in leisure and sports environments, visit the leisure sector page and the acoustic panelling service page.