Belfast-based company Farrans Construction has been appointed by North Down Borough Council (NDBC) to deliver a new leisure complex in Bangor.

The new £38m facility – designed by McAdam Design with S&P Architects – will include Northern Ireland's first Olympic-sized swimming pool and will be located at Valentine Playing Fields. Other facilities at the planned complex will include a fun pool, a fitness suite, an eight-court sports hall, a climbing wall and squash courts. Artificial grass courts and five-a-side football pitches are also proposed.

North Down mayor John Montgomery said: "This facility will be a tremendous local legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and deliver long-term economic and sporting benefits to the people of North Down and the wider Northern Ireland community." Northern Ireland sports minister Nelson McCausland added: "This will be Northern Ireland's first Olympic sized swimming pool. As a regional centre of excellence, it will be a state-of-the-art facility to be enjoyed by all the people of Northern Ireland."

North Down was selected by the Northern Ireland Executive in 2007 to host the new facility as part of Sport Northern Ireland's Elite Facilities Programme. The new complex, backed with up to £15m of Northern Ireland Executive funding, is due to be completed by autumn 2012.