RMD Kwikform Engineers Help B and K Structures Construct Geodesic Dome For Scunthorpe Leisure Centre

The new £21m leisure centre project in Scunthorpe will transform the lives of local residents, creating one of the UK’s most lively and interesting facilities that will complement the adjacent Central Park, which will also be refurbished as part of the scheme.

Housed within the geodesic dome pods will be a large fitness suite, a 25m swimming pool and a training pool, a dance studio and a six-court sports hall. A crèche and a café will also form part of the complex.

RMD Kwikform’s engineering team has designed ten specialist pyramid support towers to help contractor B & K Structures construct the innovative wood and steel geodesic dome for the leisure centre.

Erecting the structure, which once completed is self-supporting, thanks to a steel spine, was a complex task, requiring specialist systems that could provide pinpoint node support, without compromising or slowing down the erection procedure.

Tasked with connecting numerous individually fabricated steel node points to varying lengths of special Glulam engineered timber sections, (Glulam consists of planks of timber that are finger jointed to create endless boards, then pressed and glued together to form beams or columns) B & K Structures had to find a safe and workable support solution.

Having worked with RMD Kwikform on a number of previously successful projects, the B & K Structures project team made contact with RMD Kwikform engineers at the earliest design phase, to devise a practical support system that would meet the tight programme needs.

Commenting on this and the structure itself John Booth, B & K Structures contract manager said: “The really exciting part of this project is the nature of the structure that will house the new leisure centre. It is truly unique in its design, consisting of five interconnected ‘untrue’ geodesic domes to form a roof over the facility. Once completed it will look very impressive as if a number of different sized pods have been connected together.

“The core self-supporting frame is extremely intricate in design and cleverly marries the use of wooden beams and steel node point connectors to create the geodesic domes structure that is further supported by a steel spine running across the full length of the structure