Changing Places Case Study: Rochdale AFC

Written by Kit Garrett
December 1, 2023

Our final (for now!) job in the Rochdale area took us somewhere very important to us. Our #RiseForSport initiative aims to put a Changing Places toilet in every UK sports venue by 2030 – and this new modular pod installation at Rochdale AFC’s Crown Oil Arena pushes the campaign one step closer to its goals.

Up The Dale!

Celebrating its 116^th birthday this year, Rochdale Association Football Club spent 102 years of its long history in the English Football League before joining the National League at the end of the 22/23 season. To their fans, though, it doesn’t matter what league they play in; the Dale has been, and remains, an important focal point for the local community, with the Crown Oil Stadium playing host to the local rugby league team, a branch of Andy’s Man Club, blood donation points and more.

To support home and away fans, other users of the Stadium, and the local community at large, the Club determined a need for a Changing Places toilet facility. Supported by Rochdale Borough Council and grant funding from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities as part of a wider scheme of works, RISE was engaged to install a modular Changing Places pod in the Dale’s car park. Situating the pod outside of the main arena means that, outside of match and event days, people from the local community will be able to make easy use of the facility, maximising its positive impact and bringing its benefits to an even wider audience.

Lacing Up Our Boots

Following the successful completion of previous jobs for Rochdale Borough Council, we were confident this job would go smoothly, and thankfully we were right.

Work started with Ben, our Director of Changing Places, embarking on a site visit to check the suitability of the chosen location and conduct initial surveys. The basics completed, he then handed over to our Operations Director Alex and his team, who produced the technical drawings, specifications, and incorporated the customisations the client required. In parallel to this, the Ops Squad started the planning application process, ensuring the project could progress without unnecessary delays – this service comes as standard as part of our turnkey approach to projects.

Start Your Changing Places Journey

With customisations locked in, planning cleared and the green light given from Ops, we started fabrication of the Club’s pod in our specialist factory. This is where the strength of modular construction really shines – as all of our installations are based around the same core products with small customisations, we’re able to turn around projects quickly, accurately and with an extremely low level of defects. Our process has been honed over hundreds of repetitions, with quality control baked into every step of the process to ensure the end result is perfect every time.

As pod construction neared the finish line, we instructed our groundworks team from Manvers Main Construction to prepare the ground to receive the unit. Manvers are our partner of choice for groundworks because they know and understand our products inside out – as a result, they’ve been able to secure footings for them in some really tricky (physically and regulatory!) places, such as in protected parkland and on beaches where concrete slabs simply wouldn’t work. No such need here, thankfully – a simple foundation with drainage and utilities exposed and the site was ready for the main event.

Rochdale’s BS8300-compliant Changing Places pod was lifted into place and commissioned inside a single day – a more-common-than-not occurrence that we always aim for, as reduced time on site for us means reduced disruption for our clients.

All told, between groundworks and installation, we spent less than 2 weeks on site. The result? Another big win for accessibility in Rochdale and a legacy that will live on for the benefit of generations to come.

Winning Partnership Reunited

This installation at Rochdale FC is the last in a long-term partnership that saw RISE having already completed three jobs for Rochdale Borough Council over the past six months (at Heywood Sports Centre, Hollingworth Lake Visitors’ Centre and the multipurpose cultural space, Middleton Arena). It was a real pleasure for us to group up with Kathryn Bamford and her team again to deliver the final pod in a programme of works that will transform access for disabled people in the town. Kathryn said:

“Working with RISE was a pleasure, actually. It was a very easy process because they were there every step of the way and so professional. From beginning to conclusion, right the way through, they went above and beyond. I’d use them again in a heartbeat.”

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