Trinity Academy Sports Campus | Bangholm Outdoor Centre

Bangholm Outdoor Centre

Client: City of Edinburgh Council

Dates: 2018-2022

Value: £10m

Type: New build Leisure Centre & Outdoor Centre

Location: Trinity, Edinburgh

Awards: GIA Award - 2022

Edinburgh Architectural Association - Building of the Year Award 2023

Trinity Academy Sports Campus | Bangholm Outdoor Centre provides a new purpose-built Physical Education Department Sports Centre to the adjacent Trinity Academy Secondary School. The facilities include a four-court sports hall, two court gym hall, dance studio and fitness suite with supporting changing rooms and educational classrooms. In addition to these external hockey and rugby pitches are also provided.

Community facilities such as a community café and classroom as well as the accommodation for the Outdoor Team, bike and kayak workshop and camping storage, are also provided allowing the new facility to further integrate with the local community.

JUDGES COMMENTS - EAA Awards 2023

“This building is not only a sports hall for the local secondary school but is also a rugby club, a base for local outdoors group and a community leisure centre. This example of collaboration between different groups to make the best use of a building results in a hardworking project that provides a solution to many problems. The architects have handled this in an exemplary way, the plan is finely tuned and well considered, handling the complexities of the requirements of many different stakeholders with self-assurance. 

The external appearance of the building is highly impressive, the elegant single storey brick façade faces the entrance to the site – this provides a welcoming approach to the building.  The single storey element facing the rugby pitch becomes a covered colonnade – providing a threshold between the rugby club house and the rugby pitch for watching matches in the rain. The height required for the larger spaces is handled delicately – the double height polycarbonate sections are set back from the public elevations and their translucency makes them appear delicate, helping the building to settle into its mature context.  

The architects have navigated the potential challenges of an urban site and multiple stakeholders to create a piece of architecture that ultimately does set an example of using resources to benefit the greater good.”