Returning down the stairs one meets the reception used for fitness gym clients and this flows into a temporary partitioned area, tanning area, saunas and changing rooms. These seemed pretty standard except the cheeful colours and two-tone lockers. All facilities seemed ample and mandatory in design. However, one would not want to bump into anyone while making their way through the small corridors between showers and benches. 

Unlike the echo's one experiences in swimming pool changing rooms, these changing rooms did remind one of being in a house, almost cozy in some areas. The sauna is accessible to wheel chair users and the steam room is a reasonable size. But its the little touches like the the lockers being raised off the ground and their colours that just make that little extra difference.

Next we enter the main hall, which is well ventilated and has several modern concepts that one would not usually consider. The first is the white foam structures housed in the ceiling. These acoustic rods absorb sound taking away that sharp edge one hears from loud noises.

The second is the spring loaded flooring, which obviously reduces the impact to the floor itself, which we assume prolongs the life of the floor, and to the user of the hall. But this floor has another secret. 

The multiple plugs throughout allows the centre management to construct a small hardwood wall as shown below. This wall not only means that spectators can now watch games like five-a-side football in the same hall that it is being played in, but also allows the hall to house team ball games with racket games at the same time. Giving rise to hall efficiency, customer satisfaction and profitability.

Every thing in the hall just seems well thought out and looks easy to manage. The storage is ample and the equipment wide and varied, including sport wheel chairs, full gymnasium equipment and kids play items.

Then there is the icing on the cake and this is the facility to seat an audience comfortably and professionally. The reason why we say that this is the icing on the cake is because many communities do not have this facility. The beauty about this retractable seating, which acts like a giant set of draws, is that they are electronic unlike some of the manual ones which take greater time to execute.

Finally, one makes their way back to reception along a wide and child friendly corridor, which could be used as a gallery for local art and promotion. This spacious walkway is brightly coloured, has a glass frontage and has adjacent washroom facilities for private hire guests. 

In summary, the design was basic but spacious, the flooring soft and conjures up a warmer atmosphere. It was a pleasure not to see the exposed steel structures that building from the 90's usually show and the small areas of plaster work shadow light effectively. The navigation of the building was simple and affective and flows well considering the structure is mainly three shapes. Without being blinded by the newness, the quality of equipment, fixtures and even electrical and ventilation systems are well put together and it is this underlying quality that it appreciated. It's great that North Taunton now has something to celebrate and enjoy, one which has been a long time coming and we hope, whether good design or not, that the local community enjoy and fully use this wanted community facility.