Bolton Arena (Horwich)

Bolton Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena, located at Middlebrook on the boundary between Horwich and Lostock in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. It hosts indoor sporting events.

General information

Official website: boltonarena.com

Arena capacity: 6,000 spectators

Address: Arena Approach, Horwich, Bolton BL6 6LB, UK

GPS coordinates for the navigator: 53°34′45″N 2°32′21″W

Year of construction: 2001

Construction cost: £10 million

Field: grass lawn with dimensions of 99 x 77 yards

How to get there?

Situated in the M61 corridor between Manchester and Preston, Bolton Arena is located just 500 metres from J6 of the M61, next to Horwich Parkway railway station, 13 miles from Manchester city center and 23 miles from Manchester Airport.

M61:

• Leave at junction 6;
• At the roundabout, follow signs for Horwich A6027 (De Havilland Way);
• At the second roundabout, take the first exit on to Burnden Way;
• Take the first road on the left;
• The entrance to Bolton Arena car park is on the right.

A6027:

• A6027 De Havilland Way – Follow signs for Horwich Parkway Railway Station & Bolton Arena;
• Having turned on to Burnden Way, take the first road on the left;
• The entrance to Bolton Arena car park is on the right.

Note: Please park in the Bolton Arena car park. DriveSafe clients are exempt from the 3-hour.

Parking restriction as long as you write down your vehicle registration number accurately and clearly on the sheet passed around by our course Trainer.

The arena is also adjacent to the Middlebrook Retail & Leisure Park and BWFC Stadium.

Where to eat and drink?

Looking for a light bite before a meeting, or a post-workout refreshment? ReFRESH Café in the arena has something for everyone!

Café provides a wide range of Barista style coffee and fresh food options including jacket potatoes, paninis and salads.

The menu also has limited time options for seasonal favourites such as Shrove Tuesday, Halloween snacks and a Christmas menu over the festive period.

Facilities

The facility also includes a tennis centre with eight indoor acrylic courts and two floodlit clay courts, which is one of the Lawn Tennis Association’s nineteen High Performance Centres.

Architectural Aspects

Bolton Arena has a unique place in British Architecture, as the first community indoor tennis facility designed to allow for Davis Cup tournaments. The building has important agendas, including promoting excellence in tennis development through the LTA, and incorporates the first purpose-built Sports Education Theatre in the United Kingdom. Its design is exciting and unconventional for a tennis facility, resulting from one of the first partnerings (in the Egan mould) between local government and private practice and is a credit to total teamwork cooperation across the whole spectrum, from client to contractor.

The project started from a simple requirement for a community tennis provision but a need was identified for a much wider base for sport development, as well as a national requirement for tennis development. Sport England was enthused by the project and a lottery bid was promoted with backing from other sports bodies. The accommodation incorporates 8 indoor tennis courts; a Sports Education Theatre for 250-300 people, offering a full programme of interactive sports training and technique analysis; a large futuristic gym and health suite; LTA Regional HQ; conference and changing facilities.

A wide range of external sports facilities embraces athletics and events, outdoor clay tennis courts and multi-use games areas, all set in a semi-naturalistic landscaping context offering shelter from prevailing winds. Espalier hedges and underplanted borders frame the main pathways.

The elliptical building nestles within the sensitive Middlebrook flood plain but the location was fraught with groundwork issues, including redirecting the river course, creating plateaux that respond to the floor plain needs, and the removal of deep deposits under the building footprint. The construction involved 14m piles supporting a steel frame incorporating a matrix of cellular roof beams spanning the indoor courts and lateral spaces. This called for one of the largest cellular beams in the UK, being 2.6m deep. The main roof-covering is a single span, over 100m, of welded aluminium roof by Key Bemo. A wide fringe overhangs the perimeter walls, supported by circular columns carrying “mushroom gill” steel cantilevers.

The perimeter wall, of Kingspan composite panels, is arranged in 2m facets on the elliptical locus and has a jettied vertical profile to articulate the glazing zones. The main atrium entrance is fronted by curtain walling and bracketed by two stair towers that buttress the approach to the complex. Ground floors are power-floated concrete and upper floors pre-cast units. The majority of internal walls are dry construction which allowed speedy, accurate and relatively clean procedures in order to achieve the 14-month programme. Wet trades were used where a continually wet environment was required, limiting the traditionally troublesome trades and reducing Health & Safety risks.

A moveable steel gantry that gives access to a rear viewing gallery and external balcony divides the tennis hall. The gantry can be floated away on air skates when major events are staged.

History

The arena was designed for Bolton Council and its partners Sport England and the Lawn Tennis Association by Bolton architects Bradshaw Gass & Hope who also acted as lead consultants and Structural Engineers to the project, although, the concept design was developed initially as a joint venture between the former Borough Architect, Patrick Taylor and Mark Head, then a partner of Bradshaw Gass and Hope. Construction took place between October 1999 and February 2001. The arena opened its doors to the public in April 2001 and celebrated its official opening on 14 July 2001.