Image: Work has started at the site of the complex

Work has started on the construction of the new £18m Portway Lifestyle Centre, a complex bringing leisure, health and social care services under one roof in Oldbury, West Midlands.

Financial and legal contracts have now been signed for the project, which is led by Sandwell Council and Sandwell Primary Care Trust. The centre is due to open in summer 2013.

Thomas Vale is the contractor responsible for delivering the facility, which was designed by The Design Büro of Rugby to include a gym, a four-court sports hall and a climbing wall.

A dance studio and a full-sized, all-weather pitch are also proposed as part of the scheme, as well as a hydrotherapy pool for "therapeutic purposes", a café and a GP surgery.

Sandwell LiftCo, a partnership comprising public and private sector organisations, will work alongside the council and primary care trust on the development.

Portway Lifestyle Centre was one of two UK leisure schemes granted financial support by the government last April, while Sport England has also contributed £1.5m.

Sandwell Council deputy leader Steve Eling said: "It is a major vote of confidence Sandwell can undertake a multi-million pound scheme in this tough economic time."

Details: www.sandwell.gov.uk

Image (from left): Sandwell LiftCo's Mike Nicklin; Richard Nugent of Sandwell PCT; Sandwell Leisure Trust chair Lois Taylor; Steve Eling; and Sport England's Ian Silvera