Success

On 8^th October 2019 The Wave was awarded a prestigious Leading Edge Award by the World Waterpark Association, in recognition of its accessible design and state of the art attractions. Councillor Kamran Caan, Cabinet Member for Public Health and Sport, said: “This is fantastic news for The Wave, for the city and for the people of Coventry. The Wave has already become award-winning before it has even opened its doors!”

Michael Hall, partner at FaulknerBrowns Architects: “Every so often, a project comes along which is a game changer in the way that people think about and engage with the leisure experience, and Coventry’s project is one such project.”

On 10th December 2020 Ustigate and Vortex received a GOLD and TOP HONOURS award from the UK Pool and Spa Awards for their contribution to The Wave.

The Wave was named “Water Leisure Venue of the Year” along with Charlton Lido and South Lake Leisure Centre in Craigavon.

Designed by FaulknerBrowns Architects, The Wave is a stunning circular building inside and out. The exterior is presented in brick and glass and wrapped with what appears to be a blue swirling ribbon to reflect Coventry’s weaving past. The interior has received similar attention to detail in terms of its layout and state of the art facilities.

Facilities include a 25 metre swimming pool, a 120 station gym with digitally-advanced technology, a cycling studio, squash courts, a spa and a spectacular water park with rides and play items to suit everyone from the bravest thrill seeker to the youngest novice. Visitors can work out, wind down and have fun at The Wave as it is a place of health and wellbeing choices, designed and built for everyone to thrive.

The water park is between three levels and open plan, with the majority of entrances to the water rides on level three and a viewing area at the top that provides all visitors with a bird’s eye view of the aquatic play below. All of the water park levels are connected via a spiralling ramp to ensure all ages and abilities can access the fun.

The Wave is one of the most accessible leisure centres in the UK.

Ustigate and Vortex were incredibly proud to be part of the team that collaborated to establish The Wave. Our tailor-made Elevations™ fit like a glove around The Cyclone’s plunge pool; utilising the entire footprint to include as many items as possible to maximise the play value. Exchanging steps for footbridges enabled an 85% accessible Splashpad® and Elevations™ scheme for everyone to enjoy. The only items that are not accessible to wheelchair users are the waterslides and Jatinder’s Tube. Aptly named after our 3D Illustrator, Jatinder’s Tube is a tunnel that provides explorers with an alternative route to reach their destination.

The Reef splash zone is a zero depth playscape that eliminates barriers of access, resulting in a level playing field for everyone. It is a high octane splashpad with exhilarating splashes to please thrill seekers of every age and ability and it can be found at the base of the ramp. Every new arrival is greeted with a variety of gentle ground sprays, with products that include our popular circular Doughnut Spray and an interactive Team Spray where children work together to create a bigger splash.

The area is a playground of water activities with inclusive bridges on board our Elevations™ system to lead everyone from one wet environment to another. Each location has a multitude of products with differing water effects, each spraying in a different direction to enhance Coventry’s all-round experience.

The products are mainly made from high grade stainless steel and finished with a robust polyester powder coating, thus providing a solid and secure course to follow and a safe and tactile experience for water players to enjoy.

The choice of colours delivers an essence of the outdoors inside; utilising the colours green and brown to create stems from the ground up and grassy graphics on the panels to deliver pastures new. The majority of the products on the Elevations™ have been selected from our Vortex Nature Collection; enabling The Wave to erupt with a bloom of tipping and interactive spinning flowers and leafy shapes with water effects of every shape, size and height. The overhead flora features are made from translucent Seeflow™ resulting in a cheerful outburst of yellow, orange and green shadows throughout the environment.

As water players travel through the Elevations™ they will discover play items that provide opportunity to interact and raise the level of fun. Group and multi-level play is constant with four Hose Sprayers on board and there is a good choice of waterslides. There is light at the end of the tunnel for those that travel down a choice of two enclosed flumes and a kiddie run-out waterslide for aquatic players that prefer to slide and ride in the open air.

On one side of the splashpad small children find comfort and fun in their gentle ground spray welcome and on the other side of the splashpad the 6.29m tall Superwave guarantees every confident water player the greatest splash of all. Armed with a great big turbine, the product fills with water and when it reaches a certain weight and volume, the turbine spins to release and spill a super wave, soaking everyone in its path.

The concept at The Wave is a sensational water meadow full of interactive and sensual elements to enlighten and enhance everyone’s experience through sight, sound and touch. Our wheelchair accessible Splashpad® and Elevations™ scheme is a thrilling water journey that is accessible to everyone, and it is an area for visitors to enjoy the fun of water at their own pace.

Coventry’s new leisure centre also has a lazy river complete with a Rio Grande No.1; a beautiful over-head product with rows of colourful swaying flatbed buckets that tilt and release stimulating splashes from above.

The Wave caters for everyone, in providing a place to work out or wind down.

The inclusive undercover water park offers aquatic thrills and spills of every shape and size twelve months of the year.

The design and build teams have fulfilled every inclusive promise in establishing the best leisure facilities inside one of the most accessible leisure centres in the UK. This remarkable achievement has proven that attention to detail in design leads to higher standards of inclusivity and accessibility that everyone can benefit from in their lives.