THE SNOW CENTRE
THE SNOW CENTRE
Visitors can watch all the action on the slopes from the comfort of the spacious bar and restaurant area.
General Information
The Snow Centre in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire offers visitors the thrills and spills of real snow skiing.
An 8,000m2 air-tight ski box features a 160m main slope and a 100m nursery slope. The main run starts 32m above the building’s ground floor level at a pitch of 15 degrees.
Alongside the ski facilities, this permanent winter wonderland also incorporates a three-storey ‘warm side’ area with shops, restaurants and equipment hire facilities.
Fast facts
- Client
- Hemel Snow Centre
- Duration
- 2008 - 2009
- Location
- Hemel Hempstead
- Region
- Midlands & North West
- Sector
- Sport & Leisure
Our Design Group was responsible for the
architectural, civil and structural design of the building.
To avoid any danger of heave caused by freezing on the slope below the floor slab, heating pipes were embedded in a light layer of concrete to maintain a constant temperature in the surrounding ground.
Much of the building sits three to four metres into the ground, reducing its impact on the landscape. This meant moving huge amounts of earth, the majority of which was reused on site.
A green roof provides a sustainable drainage solution, reducing water wastage and preventing surges to the drains.
This is the third real snow indoor ski facility we have constructed and builds on our experience at Xscape in Milton Keynes and Chill Factore in Manchester.
As well as using staff with experience on these projects, the scheme also benefitted from the use of proven suppliers employed on previous projects.
Related Links
News: The Snow Centre OpensMay 2009 sees the start of Hemel Hempstead ski season...- Click here to visit The Snow Centre website...www.thesnowcentre.com