OVERVIEW
National Sports Training Centre Inverclyde underwent a £12m redevelopment and opened in its current form in April 2017. It now offers inclusive facilities all under one roof and can cater for 120 wheelchair users in its residential facilities at any one time. The investment to rebuild Inverclyde came from the Scottish Government and Sport Scotland following the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
BLK BOX had the pleasure in co–creating this new facility. The brief was to ensure the facility catered to not only elite athletes but local communities, therefore, choosing the correct and most appropriate equipment was important.
GYM DESIGN
The design of the facility is inspired by the flow of a gymnast’s ribbon. One end of the facility is predominantly cardio equipment and fixed resistance machines. Moving further into the facility you are met by the high-performance area which houses the strength and resistance equipment. On the right hand- side there are 4 Samson Power Racks equipped with Belfast made weightlifting platforms, benches and Elieko barbells and bumpers which sit comfortably on the rack to ensure safe weightlifting area. Opposite the Power Racks sits a rack of 2.5kg – 40kg dumbbell alongside plyo boxes, smart hurdles, jerk boxes, and an extensive range of lower and upper body equipment such as a custom coloured glute ham developer, prone row and dual stack pulley. A 20 metre, three lane speed track was installed to allow for explosive and speed work to be performed.
OUTCOME
It was extremely satisfying seeing over two years of work coming to fruition exactly as planned with this project. In addition, we managed to secure sole supplier rights for Sports Scotland for the next 3 years. Winning such a large & prestige contract has been a huge learning curve so far as well as placing a slight strain on our resources, dealing with architects, construction companies & Sport Scotland's coaches on a daily basis.
