Bradford College’s Boxing Centre is a knock-out as hundreds more people step into the ring

May 3, 2012 - PRLog -- A Yorkshire boxing academy says that hundreds more young people have taken up the sport after it moved into a purpose-built gym built in just six weeks – and at a third of the price of a typical sports hall.

The Bradford Police and College Boxing Academy has significantly increased the number of people it works with following the opening of the Bradford College Boxing Centre, at the college’s £17m Trinity Green Sports Complex, earlier this year.

Boasting three boxing rings, a full range of hitting equipment, mirrors, weights and two full sets of instant playback equipment for performance analysis, the hall has proved popular with young boxers training for bouts or simply using the sport as a way to get fit.

It has also seen the academy, which was already a one of a handful of UK High Performance Boxing Centres, improve its elite boxers programme, open up the facilities to more groups and run more sessions, including a female-only boxing programme.

Around 1,000 people, including the Bradford Bulls rugby league team, now train there and, most impressively, the hall will help Bradford get involved in the London 2012 Olympics by acting as a pre-Games training base for teams representing India, China, Vietnam and Tanzania.

It is, in short, a significant addition to Yorkshire’s sporting scene and a proud example of the London 2012 legacy, yet it quite easily might never have ever got off the ground.

Just one year ago, the academy was based in a shared gym which was also used for other sports. It could not meet the demand for its training and, with the Olympics fast approaching, had little chance to host pre-Games training camps because its facilities were not up to scratch.

That the situation is very different one year on is down to the building itself which, instead of permanent bricks and mortar, is categorised as a temporary structure.

Constructed using an anodised aluminium frame in-filled with steel-clad sandwich panels, the hall was supplied by temporary building manufacturers and installers Spaciotempo UK and, although it could theoretically be removed as easily as it has been erected, it is designed to last for many years.

This is because it is as sturdy as a permanent building, having been manufactured to comply with British and EEC safety standards for structural integrity, fire and safety codes, as well as British Standards for wind and snow loading.

Spaciotempo also laid its concrete base, installed a semi-translucent roof, which allows in daylight to save lighting costs, and fitted a host of other amenities, including a temperature control system.

The cost of all of this was just £300,000 which, according to figures from Sport England, shows a significant saving. The average cost of a similar-sized sports hall, based on typical schemes funded through the Lottery last year, is around the £1m mark – more than three times as expensive.

What is more, it was built in just six weeks, giving the academy, whose building was funded by Bradford College, the University of Bradford and the Amateur Boxing Association of England, with the fitting-out paid for by the Police Community Clubs of Great Britain, plenty of time to prepare for the Olympics.

“There is no doubt that without the building, we wouldn’t be where we are now,” said Paul Porter, Boxing Development Officer at the academy.

“Prior to this we had a share a gym used for other activities. It was OK, but it wasn’t designed for what we wanted to do and we didn’t have control of the layout.

“At the same time, we didn’t have the funding for a new bricks and mortar building and certainly could not have got it in time to play such a big part in the Olympic build-up.

“Now we have a gym that has helped us to meet the high demand that we were experiencing. It’s twice as big as the space we had, it is tailor-made for us and we have it for more hours each week.

“This has enabled us to quadruple our operations, which has helped us to increase our numbers and expand into new areas that we had to hold off on.

“For just £300,000 plus the cost of kitting out, not only have we transformed what we are able to do, we now have one of the best boxing facilities in the country.”

That the academy is based in a temporary building is down to Ronnie Todd, Bradford College’s Project Manager. He first saw temporary buildings being used as sports halls when he visited a tennis centre in Spain 10 years ago.

The college’s Trinity Green complex already boasts a 1,000 sq m sports hall, sports and fitness laboratories and a fitness testing suite, but Ronnie admits he had to convince a few people when it came to adding a temporary building to the site for boxing.

The success of a similar 700 sq m temporary building Spaciotempo provided as a school sports hall for Bradford’s nearby Appleton Academy – which is sponsored by Bradford College – last year helped to support his case and he was delighted when the boxing centre got the thumbs-up on its official opening in February this year.

“We had advised Appleton Academy on their new sports hall,” Ronnie said. “They had £2m cut from their funding but still needed a sports hall, so we suggested they get a temporary building at a fraction of the price.

“Up to that point, perhaps justifiably, some people were sceptical about a temporary building, but when they looked around Appleton Academy’s building, it demonstrated what could be achieved.

“That said, it wasn’t until the very minute that everyone was inside and admiring the new boxing centre that I knew I’d fully convinced them, even though there is no way we could have afforded anything like it if we had gone down the traditional route.”

Spaciotempo UK was founded 40 years under its former name of TempAstor and, as well as providing temporary buildings commonly used as warehouse space by a host of blue chip manufacturers and retail firms, it is providing more and more sports halls for schools, especially following the demise of the Building Schools for the Future scheme.

“People’s perceptions are that temporary buildings are little more than marquees but they quickly discover that today’s modern versions are anything but,” said Scott Jameson, Director of Sales for Spaciotempo.

“When it comes to sports halls, they are perfect, because they offer schools and colleges a long term solution which gives them a lot for their money while matching the performance of a permanent structure.

“We are very proud of the Bradford boxing academy building because, not only did we deliver it as a fully-fitted turnkey facility on time and on budget, it is playing a major role in the Olympic build-up and its benefits will be felt by a whole generation of young people for many years to come.”

For more information about Spaciotempo and its products, please ring 01889 569569 or visit www.spaciotempo.co.uk