RAAC Strengthening for Sport & Leisure Venues

Leisure centres, pools, sports halls and theatres are exactly the long-span buildings where RAAC was used, and where humid, heavily used conditions make it most vulnerable. Structured Carbon strengthens RAAC in place with a moisture-immune CFRP solution, so venues stay open instead of being closed and rebuilt.

The RAAC challenge in sport and leisure buildings

Sport and leisure venues are built around large, column-free spaces: pool halls, sports halls, auditoria and stages. Those long spans are precisely where RAAC roof planks were used, and in swimming pools the warm, humid, chemically aggressive environment makes deterioration worse. A confirmed RAAC roof over a pool or sports hall is both a real safety concern and a threat to a venue that a community, a school or an operator depends on.

Why leisure operators need an alternative to replacement

Closing a leisure centre or theatre to strip out and replace a roof means lost income, lost bookings and a community asset out of action for a long programme, often with nowhere comparable for users to go. For local authorities and trusts running these venues on tight margins, replacement is frequently unaffordable. An approach that restores structural safety while keeping the venue open, and that stands up to a humid pool environment, is far better matched to the sector.

How we strengthen RAAC in sport and leisure venues

We follow our five-stage RAACSafe™ Protocol. Neil Smuts surveys, scans and assesses the RAAC; John Staves designs a bespoke CFRP strengthening scheme to the exact capacity required; the CFRP is manufactured in the UK and installed in place; and the strengthened structure is monitored. The CFRP is moisture-immune, which suits pool and wet-side conditions, and because nothing is stripped out the work is phased around the venue programme.

• Moisture-immune solution, well suited to humid pool and wet-side environments.
• Venues kept open, with halls, pools and studios returned to use in stages.
• A fraction of the cost and programme of replacing a long-span roof.
• Decades of added safe service life from a permanent strengthening solution.

See the numbers on our case study, where, across the tenders we cost, strengthening tailored to the exact roof comes in well below 15 per cent of replacement cost, and read more about CFRP strengthening and RAAC remediation.

Frequently asked questions

Is RAAC a particular risk over swimming pools?

Long-span RAAC roofs over warm, humid pool halls are among the more sensitive cases, because moisture accelerates deterioration. Our CFRP solution is moisture-immune, which makes it well suited to pool and wet-side environments where the original panels have suffered.

Can a leisure centre stay open during the work?

In most cases, yes. CFRP is applied in place, so work can be phased around the programme, with halls, pools and studios brought back into use in stages rather than closing the whole venue for a rebuild.

Is strengthening cheaper than replacing a sports or leisure roof?

Typically by a wide margin, and without the lost income and community impact of a long closure. Across the tenders we cost, a bespoke scheme tailored to that exact roof frequently comes in well below 15 per cent of the cost of replacement; on one tender a roof costed at around £40 million to replace was priced for strengthening at under £4 million, with no decant.

Who certifies the structural design?

Every scheme is designed and certified by John Staves (CEng FIStructE), a chartered structural engineer and recognised RAAC specialist, working from survey and monitoring led by Neil Smuts, President of the UK Concrete Scanning Standard.