Basingstoke Hockey Club Praise Excellent SSL service

Surfacing Standards Limited

With extensive experience designing and delivering hockey pitches, SSL were appointed by Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council as their project consultants for a new floodlit sand dressed pitch at Down Grange Sports Complex.

A new hockey pitch is a major investment. There are very few club-owned hockey pitches in the UK and as part of the project development process, SSL believe it’s important to have a consultation process with the hockey club/clubs who will be using the facility.

And we are thrilled to receive glowing feedback from Basingstoke HC President Miranda Smith who commented;

“The service provided by SSL was excellent. As end users, we were delighted that SSL met with us to discuss all aspects of the build to ensure it met requirements of the hockey club. If any questions arose or any slight alterations requested, SSL were happy to talk through the technical aspects of what would work best. I was given a copy of the SSL’s technical specification which was excellent and really useful when answering the many questions from club members. I would definitely recommend SSL to anyone considering a hockey pitch project.”

The experienced SSL team worked with both the council and Hockey Club to develop a new facility that met their requirements, and ensured International Hockey Federation design guidance was considered throughout. SSL produced a contract specification and a tender process was carried out with numerous approved contractors submitting formal bids.

Using our extensive in-house expertise in planning application requirements, the SSL team worked to discharge all planning conditions to ensure the project could commence onsite.

The SSL team were then on hand to oversee the build process, finalising the formal contract documentation between council and contractor, chairing progress meetings and carrying out quality control checks at each key stage. Prior to handover SSL completed a comprehensive snagging survey before issuing project sign off.

We’re delighted the knowledge and experience of the SSL team was able to benefit both the council as client, but also the hockey club as key end user.

SSL client is Independent Secondary School of the Year for the North West!

Surfacing Standards Limited

SSL are delighted to hear that Withington Girls’ School has been named North West Independent Secondary School of the Year by The Sunday Times and also regained its position in the top 25 elite independent schools in the UK.

Having been engaged with as sports pitch consultant to deliver the reconstruction of the 20 year old synthetic hockey pitch at the school’s site in South Manchester, SSL are thrilled that the dedication and passion of the staff, pupils and everyone involved at the school has been recognised.

And there is cause for double celebration as the redeveloped synthetic hockey pitch has recently achieved FIH (International Hockey Federation) National certification. This means that the SSL designed facility meets all requirements of the FIH Quality Programme for Hockey Turf. Tests include measurements of how the ball interacts with the playing surface, ensures the surface provides well-being and protection for players and includes checks to confirm the pitch has been built to the dimensions, line marking, slope & surface drainage requirements of the FIH.

This means that the facility meets hockey performance standards that are recognised internationally, something that is certainly something the school can be very proud of.

To hear more about the project and the role SSL played, take a look at the project video…

SSL at Withington Girls’ School

Stunning 6 Pitch Facility Delivered by SSL

Surfacing Standards Limited

Surfacing Standards were pleased to be selected as consultant to deliver one of the largest sports pitch projects ever carried out for a UK education provider!

Set in 220 acres of North Yorkshire countryside, Queen Ethelburga’s College promotes standards to match the very best independent schools in the world. The Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) awarded the College the top grading of ‘Excellent’ following an inspection in February this year.

When it was decided to make a significant investment to create a Sports Village, the College turned to experienced sports pitch consultants SSL to write a detailed design/specification before overseeing the construction of 6 new synthetic turf pitches.

The project created a site that can offer the complete sports development experience with different synthetic turf surface systems to provide elite level performance for various sports including football, rugby and hockey.

We recently took to the skies to fully appreciate the scale of the facilities – CLICK BELOW to download a video link to take a tour of this state-of-the-art development….

Queen Ethelburgas CollegeDownload

SSL project continues to meet high standards at Queen Ethelburga’s

Surfacing Standards Limited

Quality is never short term with a Surfacing Standards project!

Having been selected by Queen Ethelburga’s College to act as sports pitch consultant to develop a detailed design/specification before overseeing the project build, the water based hockey field continues to maintain exceptional quality standards having recently passed a re-test to FIH Global Performance standards.

SSL officially handed over the hockey field back in January 2015 as part of a stunning project to deliver six (yes six!) new synthetic turf pitches covering an area of 38,000m2. This created an outstanding sports village that could offer the complete sports development experience with different accredited pitch surface systems to cater for hockey, football and rugby. It marked the development of the largest private facility of this type in the North of England.

The successful re-test carried out by an independent FIH accredited test-house serves to demonstrate the quality and longevity of the design implemented by Surfacing Standards, together with the quality of the build and effective ongoing maintenance procedures.