Ambitions for the site
The project team has worked hard to create an innovative yet sensitive plan for the new Leisure Centre and the elderly care provision. Our proposals seek to deliver:
Comprehensively redevelop the Purley Pool Leisure Centre, multi-storey car park and Sainsbury’s store site to support the Council’s strategic vision and to invest in Purley Town Centre and the High Street.
Provide a new state-of-the-art Purley Leisure Centre including six-lane pool, training pool, gym, studio facilities, café and a public car park.
Introduce a new public square and a pleasant public route between the High Street and Purley Station.
Integrate a retirement community that promotes wellbeing and independent living through thoughtful design and an ongoing programme of social activities, much of which can be resident led. The ambition is to keep residents healthy, happy and confident for as long as possible that not only serves residents but the wider community and, in turn, reduce the burden on local healthcare services.
Bring more activity to Purley, generating economic activity and supporting the vitality of the town centre and the post-covid recovery.
Free up larger, much-needed family homes with this new, rightsizing, integrated retirement community model.
Provision for public car parking spaces, which would cater to the needs of the local community.
The site is currently occupied by the Purley Leisure Centre comprising indoor six-lane 25m swimming pool, teaching pool, and 70-station fitness suite, the former Sainsbury’s, and a multi-storey car park.
We are keen to ascertain your views on the proposals to help us formulate plans that have the support and address the needs of the community.
Design Evolution
The scheme has evolved substantially from concept to proposals.
Following the development brief to include a full reprovision of the leisure centre in June 2022, the public route linking the high street to the station has moved from a central to a southern position on the site, allowing the leisure centre to be located at the High Street level. This route will be delivered to create a pleasant pedestrianised route with natural surveillance whilst dealing with a 6m height difference between Whytecliffe Road South and Purley High Street.
Feedback from officers at Croydon Council, received via pre-application meetings has further progressed the design proposals, with the addition of the public square on the High Street. The proposals have developed substantially to reduce the effects of the site constraints through the evolution of the building forms, site layouts, and height of the buildings. These have been broadly overcome through working collaboratively with officers at the Council as well as with local political stakeholders.
Evolution of the plans between June 2022 – Feb 2023