Fluffy
Well-known member
Many thanks to @Wally_urbex for the tip off on this one. His fantastic report can be viewed here;
https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/threads/the-oasis-leisure-centre-swindon-may-2021.128745/
History (Shamelessly stolen from him, cuz I'm at work right now and can't be assed quite frankly!);
The Oasis Leisure Centre, designed by Peter Sargent of Gillinson, Barnett and Partners in 1974, is an entertainment and sports complex situated outside the town centre of Swindon, Wiltshire. It opened on the 1st January 1976 it cost £3 million to build overall and aimed to bring a bit of Hawaii-style paradise to Swindon.
It has many facilities available, such as a lagoon swimming pool, gym, bar, and concert hall. The concert hall eventually became a major venue for touring acts and held approximately 3,000 people. The venue has hosted gigs by Talking Heads, Dire Straits,The Stranglers, Van Morrison, The Specials, Paul Weller, Madness, Alice Cooper, Ed Sheeran and The Kings of Leon.
Some 20,000 people crammed into the Oasis for the grand opening, where the entertainment ranged from synchronised swimming and sub-aqua displays to a British Rail Brass Band recital. Within its 1st year of operation the American National Swimming Pool Institute hailed the Oasis as the world’s top residential pool of 1976 and awarded it a gold medal.
In 1979 the leisure centre celebrated its two millionth visitor in June. For its tenth anniversary, the Oasis installed three Domebusters water flumes for £600,000 which became hugely popular with Swindonians and tourists alike. The slides helped the centre briefly become Wiltshire's most popular tourist attraction, even above Stonehenge.
On the 18th November 2020 owners Greenwich Leisure Ltd ( GLL ) operating under the brand "Better" announced the oasis would not re open once lockdown restrictions were eased on December 3 . The impact of both lockdowns has led to social enterprise and leisure operator GLL and landlord Seven Capital deciding that the facility's future is no longer viable. They came to this decision after carrying out a review of their options and saw that the amount of money being lost and rent required made continuing to operate the site difficult.
The building is now in the control of developers SevenCapital who have taken the lease back from GLL.
Pictures and exploration details;
Access, mostly thanks to Wally, wasn't too bad. Took a bit of finding, but perserverance paid off in the end.
This place is full of great little signs, like these;
And the general vista aint bad either;
Heading up...
And back down...
It was at this point, I went into full numpty mode. A word of advice (for myself, for next time...) Always read your predecessor's report about a place before going yourself...
... because if you go about 2 paces further forward than that photo ^ you'll set off the loudest alarm in history, shit yourself, and run for the exit faster than you knew you were capable of running, thus ending your explore early!
I got outside about 2 minutes before a dodgy looking small white van turned up. Luckily by this point the weather had taken a turn for the worse;
So I stuck my hood up, hid under a tree, and pretended to be a local sheltering from the passing storm!
They must have bought it, cuz the chaps in the van didn't bother me, but were still parked up outside as I drove away... quickly...
All the best folks...
https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/threads/the-oasis-leisure-centre-swindon-may-2021.128745/
History (Shamelessly stolen from him, cuz I'm at work right now and can't be assed quite frankly!);
The Oasis Leisure Centre, designed by Peter Sargent of Gillinson, Barnett and Partners in 1974, is an entertainment and sports complex situated outside the town centre of Swindon, Wiltshire. It opened on the 1st January 1976 it cost £3 million to build overall and aimed to bring a bit of Hawaii-style paradise to Swindon.
It has many facilities available, such as a lagoon swimming pool, gym, bar, and concert hall. The concert hall eventually became a major venue for touring acts and held approximately 3,000 people. The venue has hosted gigs by Talking Heads, Dire Straits,The Stranglers, Van Morrison, The Specials, Paul Weller, Madness, Alice Cooper, Ed Sheeran and The Kings of Leon.
Some 20,000 people crammed into the Oasis for the grand opening, where the entertainment ranged from synchronised swimming and sub-aqua displays to a British Rail Brass Band recital. Within its 1st year of operation the American National Swimming Pool Institute hailed the Oasis as the world’s top residential pool of 1976 and awarded it a gold medal.
In 1979 the leisure centre celebrated its two millionth visitor in June. For its tenth anniversary, the Oasis installed three Domebusters water flumes for £600,000 which became hugely popular with Swindonians and tourists alike. The slides helped the centre briefly become Wiltshire's most popular tourist attraction, even above Stonehenge.
On the 18th November 2020 owners Greenwich Leisure Ltd ( GLL ) operating under the brand "Better" announced the oasis would not re open once lockdown restrictions were eased on December 3 . The impact of both lockdowns has led to social enterprise and leisure operator GLL and landlord Seven Capital deciding that the facility's future is no longer viable. They came to this decision after carrying out a review of their options and saw that the amount of money being lost and rent required made continuing to operate the site difficult.
The building is now in the control of developers SevenCapital who have taken the lease back from GLL.
Pictures and exploration details;
Access, mostly thanks to Wally, wasn't too bad. Took a bit of finding, but perserverance paid off in the end.
This place is full of great little signs, like these;
And the general vista aint bad either;
Heading up...
And back down...
It was at this point, I went into full numpty mode. A word of advice (for myself, for next time...) Always read your predecessor's report about a place before going yourself...
... because if you go about 2 paces further forward than that photo ^ you'll set off the loudest alarm in history, shit yourself, and run for the exit faster than you knew you were capable of running, thus ending your explore early!
I got outside about 2 minutes before a dodgy looking small white van turned up. Luckily by this point the weather had taken a turn for the worse;
So I stuck my hood up, hid under a tree, and pretended to be a local sheltering from the passing storm!
They must have bought it, cuz the chaps in the van didn't bother me, but were still parked up outside as I drove away... quickly...
All the best folks...
