Coventry Water Park and Leisure Centre

The new Coventry Water Park and Leisure Centre, known as ‘The Wave’, is a £36.7 million water park, that is being built on the former Spire House site in the city centre. The leisure centre and water park will feature a range of slides, as well as a lazy river, wave pool, spa, 25m-long swimming pool, 120 station gym, dance studio and squash courts.

Nine slides will be built at the water park, including the Navigator. This is a water park version of a roller coaster, which has both uphill and downhill drops in a tube. Another slide is called the Speed Slide, which has a 20 metre drop. Each slide will be accompanied by light and sound to create an immersive experience. The mix of exciting and slower slides is designed to appeal to swimmers of all ability. Those with toddlers, or mobility issues will be able to use areas such as the wave pool and the lazy river.

The new Coventry water park will be built on a site that was previously used as council offices, but the building process will be challenging as it has some constraints from neighbouring sites. These include the city’s 70m-high Grade II-listed Christchurch Spire, a historical landmark, which is located next to the new water park.

Billington Structures will provide over 1,100 tonnes of structural steel on this complex steel structure. To form the rooftop diagrid, Billington installed a total of 14 trusses, seven spanning in one direction and the others spanning at an adjusted angle of 90 degrees.