Holly Hill Leisure Centre in Fareham, Hampshire, has officially opened to the public.

The £8m centre houses a six-lane, 25m swimming pool, a learner pool and a health club with a 100-station gym floor and group exercise and cycling studios. Outdoor facilities include two football pitches, a children's play area and a multi-use games area.

The centre is owned by Fareham Borough Council, which has appointed Everyone Active to manage the site.

Built by Balfour Beatty, the centre took more than a year to construct and includes a number of eco-friendly solutions designed to improve the building’s sustainability.

These include new approaches to pool lighting design and ventilation – all developed by multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy Hydrock – which use up to 80 per cent less energy and require less maintenance than conventional solutions.

A spokesperson for Hydrock said: “Gyms are traditionally designed with full mechanical ventilation to manage air flow during peak periods and high occupancy. However, they also experience prolonged periods of low or non-occupancy, meaning traditional ventilation systems are high in capital and operational cost.

“We designed a CO2 controlled mixed mode passive ventilation system that responds to changes in airflow, successfully reducing these costs.”

The natural habitats which surround the building have also been preserved and will be managed by the council’s Countryside Service department.