A new sports facility opened in Lincolnshire by the Princess Royal provides a showcase for the use of engineered timber.
The first phase of the Princess Royal Sports Arena in Boston, Lincolnshire, features widespread use of wood supplied by Finnforest UK Ltd – the area’s biggest employer.
Finnforest helped with engineering expertise, in terms of structural design and fabrication, while timber engineers from Finland were employed on the project. Structural engineer Finnmap Oy said wind loading for the Lincolnshire site had to be twice the Finnish level.
Prefabricated components imported from Finland included hollow-cored multi-faceted LVL columns, manufactured in the Finnforest’s Lahti plant. Solid LVL roof beams spanning up to 22m and weighing 2.25 tonnes were also used, together with curved glulam beams in a central glazed “street”.
The complex, which when completed will feature a fitness suite, swimming pool, aerobics studio and gym, an indoor training centre and club house, is externally clad with heat-treated ThermoWood, coated in a light oak stain.
A second phase of the project, currently under way, involves use of exposed glulam beams spanning over 30m to create the main roof structure.
