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Leisure

In the leisure industry, customer experience is everything. The air your visitors breathe plays a significant role in how they feel during and after their visit. Whether it’s a gym, swimming pool, sports centre, or indoor entertainment venue, maintaining high indoor air quality is key to creating safe, welcoming, and energising environments.

Leisure spaces often involve intense physical activity, high occupancy, and varying temperature or humidity levels, all of which can quickly compromise the environment quality. Without proper ventilation and pollutant control, CO2 builds up, odours linger, and airborne pathogens can spread easily, undermining both visitor satisfaction and staff wellbeing.

  • Expectations
  • Featured Project
  • Insights

Expectations

Leisure Sector

High-use, high-occupancy environments are common hurdles for businesses in the leisure sector. Many facilities, like gyms and sports complexes, rely on ageing, insufficient HVAC systems or use superficial solutions that mask the symptoms instead of tackling the root cause. This results in stuffy, stale air and unpleasant odours lingering. Not only does this reduce the wellbeing of staff, it can also affect how members and customers experience the leisure facility, potentially leading to negative reviews and unhappy customers if air quality issues are not treated.

Fortunately, improving air quality in a leisure space doesn't necessarily mean ripping out the existing systems and installing brand-new expensive units. Air quality can vary greatly in different areas within a leisure building, and our professional air quality monitoring tools can diagnose issues effectively. This means we have the knowledge to make improvements or upgrades only where necessary.

We've worked with leisure facilities to complete a range of tasks from diagnosing faulty air ventilation systems to ensuring ductwork and fire safety compliance. If your leisure space's air doesn't feel as fresh and healthy as it used to, get in touch today or view our range of air quality services.

 

Relevant services

  • HVAC Maintenance
  • Fire Damper Testing
  • Water Quality Testing
  • TM44 Inspections
  • Grease Cleaning
  • Ductwork Cleaning
Leisure centre inside

Featured Project

An array of IAQ services for a Hampshire leisure club

inside leisure club gym

Objectives

We were called to a Hampshire-based leisure club in 2023 for a range of different IAQ servicing tasks including air handling unit (AHU) maintenance. With up to hundreds of gym members in the building at any one time, clean, ventilated air is essential. In this environment in particular, with swathes of people breathing heavily after a tough workout, CO2 can rise into dangerous levels if the polluted indoor air is not properly mixed with clean outside air.

We were asked to perform the following tasks as part of the club's general maintenance: fire damper maintenance, fitting new duct access doors, perform a Ventilation Hygiene Risk Assessment (VHRA), perform AHU servicing and cleaning, perform plenum cleaning, and remove grease from the kitchen extractor.

Solutions

Our expert team got to work on these tasks over the course of the week. We completed each of these tasks to a professional standard and recorded the results with photographs to build a completion report. 

All in all, our client was very pleased that we could help them remain compliant and keep their members safe, healthy, and happy. The last thing these gym members want is to breathe harmful, polluted air, so we're glad we could improve the air quality in this space.

Results

This maintenance work is essential for maintaining compliance with UK laws and legislations, and is particularly important in a space like this in which the ability to breathe clean, filtered air is incredibly important for health. Some of the tasks we completed, like commercial kitchen extractor fan and ductwork cleaning, are about more than just meeting compliance (like BESA TR19) it's about making sure the building remains safe for everyone. Especially where large groups of people are concerned, reducing fire risks are paramount.

Challenges

  • Variety of different maintenance tasks
  • Health-conscious client
  • Large operation

 

"When you're dealing with a high-traffic facility like a leisure club, where hundreds of people are exerting themselves every day, poor air quality isn't just uncomfortable -- it's a health risk. Our team was brought in to carry out essential servicing, from AHU cleaning to fire damper maintenance, all aimed at keeping the environment compliant and, most importantly, safe. Spaces like this demand constant vigilance when it comes to ventilation; CO₂ levels can rise rapidly without proper airflow."

 

Adam Taylor, CEO of ARM Environments

Compliance

UK legislation and laws compliance

Wellbeing

Happy & healthy members

Safety

Fire risk reduced

Insights

Related Insights

Discover more about indoor air quality in your sector. Here are our top picks for blogs that might interest you.

Leisure FAQs

Why is indoor air quality important in gyms and leisure centres?

In high activity spaces like gyms, pools, or sports facilities, CO2 can be very high due to the number of people in the room and the rate at which they're breathing. Not only does this pollute the space over time, it also increases the likelihood that these people will inhale the pollutants already in the space, which means that IAQ in these spaces is an incredibly important factor.

What are common indoor air problems in leisure facilities?

Issues often include high CO₂ levels, excess humidity, unpleasant odours, and poor air circulation. These problems are especially common in busy changing rooms, studios, and workout zones with ageing ventilation systems.

Can poor air quality affect gym memberships or customer retention?

Yes. Visitors are quick to notice stuffy, stale air or lingering odours, which can lead to complaints, bad reviews, and a drop in repeat visits. Improving IAQ helps create a more inviting, energising atmosphere that encourages loyalty.

Do I need to replace my entire HVAC system to fix air quality issues?

Not necessarily. We can assess your existing systems and recommend cost-effective improvements such as targeted filtration, UV-C upgrades, or air quality monitors. If the budget allows for it, retrofitting the HVAC systems can future-proof the space and ensure maximum effectiveness at cleaning the air, but we understand that this isn't always possible and can offer alternative solutions as well.

Concerned About IAQ?

Contact us today for expert advice and a professional survey.

Why Choose ARM?

Place Your Trust in a Highly Experienced, Industry Certified Indoor Air Quality Consultancy. New UK legislation gives indoor air quality a minimum safety standard in non-residential buildings. We are here to help you fulfil your responsibility to your building’s occupants and comply with statutory guidance.
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