Slough’s new Ice Arena achieves industry wide acclaim

Slough’s new Ice Arena has achieved industry wide acclaim this year as it has been selected to feature in the highly regarded, SPACES Yearbook. The Yearbook celebrates the best of the year’s publicly funded projects and illustrates the very broad range of buildings that all make a difference to the general public.

The entry submitted by Slough Urban Renewal (SUR), the joint partnership between Slough Borough Council and Morgan Sindall Investments Limited, demonstrates how the Slough Ice Arena successfully met its brief to breathe new life into the former Montem Ice Centre building. The newly refurbished arena delivers vastly improved facilities and improved energy efficiency while its stunning curved structure, impressive arches and floor to ceiling glass curtain wall panels deliver an architecturally striking new focal point on the Bath Road (A4).

Andy Howell, General Manager for Slough Urban Renewal (SUR) said: “It is a fantastic achievement for the Ice Arena to have been featured in this year’s SPACES Yearbook and recognised for the positive impact it has had on the general public. Since the arena re-opened to the public in April last year, it has been really well received. In addition to proving popular with the local community, numerous groups are now able to take advantage of the first class facilities on offer here.

“The arena is home to the Slough Jets Ice Hockey Team as well as multiple different clubs. It has also played host to an array of filming sessions from Dancing on Ice to the National Lottery – helping to raise the profile of the rink and the town.”

The ice arena’s refurbishment and extension works, which form part of Slough Borough Council’s five year, £60 million leisure strategy, were undertaken by Slough Urban Renewal (SUR). The refurbished ice arena and new extension add an extra 1,000m2 of space. The two-storey extension houses the new entrance, reception, café, gym and climbing wall with clip ‘n’ climb feature. The new facility is being managed by the council’s leisure provider EveryoneActive.

The Ice Arena opened to the public on 28th April 2018, following a multi-million pound rebuild including: a new ice rink; new fully-glazed barriers; new changing rooms and toilets; new spectator seating and lighting; new café; new climbing wall with clip ‘n’ climb feature; new gym and extensive landscaping and car parking

The SPACES Annual Awards Ceremony 2019 was held on the 17th October at the Pentahotel, Reading. These are the only awards in the industry that are solely dedicated to rewarding excellence, collaboration and innovation in construction projects delivered within the Public Sector. The yearbook was released on the same day.

From over 100 schemes, 80 submissions were chosen for the yearbook and 33 were short listed for the awards.

You will find the Ice Arena on page 87: https://thespaces.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/SPACES-Yearbook-2019-09-2019-Low-Res-compressed.pdf