Crowtree Leisure Centre

HER Number

9693

District

Sunderland

Site Name

Crowtree Leisure Centre

Place

Sunderland

Map Sheet

NZ35NE

Class

Recreational

Site Type: Broad

Recreation Centre

Site Type: Specific

Recreation Centre

General Period

20TH CENTURY

Specific Period

Late 20th Century 1967 to 2000

Form of Evidence

Demolished Building

Description

1975-8 by Gillinson, Barnett & Partners (of Leeds), exciting in scale and construction and colour, with polished stainless-steel cladding and a red-painted space frame. Twelve four-columned concrete pylons support a giant space-frame over one vast space. Glaxzed entrance recessed in centre of the front. Other facades blank and huge in scale. Inside a leisure pool with palm trees and 'beach' described as a 'south sea island dream world… just like the seaside', flanking a skating rink, sports hall and courts. Crowtree suffered from technical problems and high running costs. In 1999 the ice rink closed. In 2008 the pool closed. Demolished in 2014/15.

Easting

439390

Northing

556940

Grid Reference

NZ439390556940

Sources

N. Pevsner (second edition revised by Elizabeth Williamson), 1983, The Buildings of England - County Durham, page 458; Lynn Pearson, 2010, Played in Tyne and Wear - Charting the heritage of people at play, p 76; Archaeological Research Services, 2015, Crowtree Leisure Centre site, Sunderland - Archaeological Assessment; Archaeological Research Services, 2019. Archaeological Evaluation at the Bridges, Crowtree Road, Sunderland;