Swansea Council have approved plans for Wales’s National Institute for Sport and Health.
Led by Swansea University and part of the Swansea Bay City Deal Campuses project, this new building will replace the pavilion next to the athletics track at the University’s Singleton Campus on Sketty Lane, and once complete, will be a dedicated research and innovation space for sports technology.
Creating around 2,000sq.m of space, this development will include laboratory and demonstration areas, workshops, office space, media studios and seminar rooms for the University, health sector and commercial partners. It will establish an environment that supports the development, testing and evaluation of medical, health, well-being and sports technologies, and could include ‘wearable technologies’ that collect data during physical activity which could be rolled out to elite sportspeople and the public.
The Campuses project is led by Swansea University in partnership with Swansea Council Swansea Bay University Health Board, Hywel Dda University Heath Board, A Regional Collaboration for Health (ARCH) and key private sector partners. In addition to building The National Institute for Sport and Health the project will also focus on creating a dynamic community of professionals collaborating in sports innovation, health and wellbeing called NNIISH, and an access route from the M4 motorway to the 55-acre NHS owned site ad Morriston Hospital.
Swansea Council’s planning committee unanimously approved the application for The National Institute for Sports and Health after hearing from a planning officer who said there was currently no hub for sport technology in Wales.
Cllr Rob Stewart, Chairman of the Swansea Bay City Deal said:
“Approval of the planning application is a landmark moment for Swansea and for Wales. By creating the nation’s first sport technology hub right here in our city, we’re putting ourselves at the forefront of innovation in sport, health, and technology. With state-of-the-art laboratories, demonstration areas, workshops, media studios and collaborative spaces, this facility will not only drive cutting-edge research but also create opportunities for Swansea University, health sector, and commercial partners to work side-by-side. It’s an investment in skills, jobs, and our future as a centre of sporting excellence.”