Riverside Club New Plans Unveiled

Second floor to be added to rebuilt luxury health club

The Esporta Group have revealed their plans for the new Riverside Club which they are claiming will be one of the best in the country.

They have confounded expectations by increasing the floor space of the club which was destroyed in a fire over a year ago. The new plans include provision for a second floor which includes extra facilities like a pilates studio. It was originally anticipated that they would have to substantially duplicate the old design to ensure that there were no major delays for planning reasons. The footprint of the club will be slightly smaller than the original design.

Planning consent for the new building was held up by three months of negotiations with the GLA over the club's sustainable energy strategy. But now preparatory construction work on the site has already commenced with site clearance underway by Pearce Construction.

The first phase of the build project will take approximately 2 to 3 months, whilst the initial shell is raised. After that there will be approximately 150 contractors on site to complete the fit out. The club's managers believe that they are on schedule to re-open the club in January 2008.

The new Riverside Club will have 26 tennis courts (12 indoor with an additional 3 covered by a new winter bubble), an enlarged gym with outdoor balcony overlooking the Thames, 3 pools (1 outdoor) with a hydrotherapy spa and an enlarged day spa.

The design of the club has also been changed to zone children’s and adult activities away from one another following complaints from members about the previous layout. In addition there will be an enhanced adult dining area and full service lounge overlooking the tennis courts.

It is not known at this stage whether the club will increase membership numbers after reopening. There have already been concerns expressed by local people about the level of traffic on Riverside Drive and with the Civil Service Club also expanding the situation may deteriorate further.

May 24, 2007