Meanwhile, the cylindrical towers with dormer windows and the square towers with balustrades were inspired in particular by the Galata Tower in Istanbul, built in the late Middle Ages by the Genoese, and by the so-called Maiden’s Tower, located on an island in the Bosphorus Strait, a few hundred metres from the city.Īccording to the original brochure, the centre of the complex was to include a domed structure containing a shopping centre, health and beauty facilities such as Turkish baths, a mosque, a movie theatre, and other facilities open to residents. The Burj Al Babas project involved the construction of 732 three-story luxury villas, all very similar to each other and characterised by elements of Gothic, English and American architecture. Construction of the 250 acre luxury home community began in 2014, but has been abandoned since 2019 after the developers filed for bankruptcy with a debt of $27 million. It features over 700 3-story castle-like homes that currently sit abandoned. I really wish the new Braywick Leisure Centre all the best and I hope that it is as happy a place as the Magnet was. I was always proud to say I worked there.This deserted residential development, called “Burj Al Babas”, is located near the Turkish town of Mudurnu. 'It was somewhere I got up and went to all the time and it was just great. 'I have many memories of the Magnet, like when Prince Charles and Diana got married. My husband tells me to stay in the car when we go shopping. Speaking to the Windsor Observer when it closed down, receptionist Jill Jeffrey said: 'It has been very well used over the years, and of course everywhere we go, everyone knows me. 'This is one of our most enjoyable explores as we spent hours in there without anybody else.' 'Some rooms still had equipment left behind which is worth lots of money like the exercise machines in the gym. 'The pool leads onto the gym then into dance studios, escape rooms, a spa with a Jacuzzi, and a three floor adventure zone plus trampolines. 'Once inside the swimming pool area we thought it was big but the complex just keeps opening up to new sections and parts of the building. Lost Adventures explored the eerie leisure centre, showing the drained swimming pool, empty jacuzzi, run-down dance studios, and the three-floor adventure zone which still featured equipment.Ī spokesperson for the group said: 'To see somewhere this big and vast abandoned is absolutely crazy. The properties, which are set to be between four and 11-storeys high, will replace the closed centre in the town centre, and will be made up of a mix of one, two, and three-bedroom homes. Some 434 apartments are planned to be built on the site, despite objections from neighbours who have described the scheme as a 'prison village'. However, the site was closed down during the Covid pandemic in September 2020 and replaced with the state-of-the-art Braywick Leisure Centre. Previously known as the Magnet Leisure Centre, it enjoyed a number of uses over 45 years, including holding counts for elections and being the home of a host of showpiece events for clubs and charities.Īs well as hosting BBC Radio One Roadshows, the leisure centre also found fame on the small screen, starring in the likes of Antiques Roadshow and Dickinson's Real Deal, and even once had a cameo role in hit 1990s sitcom, The Brittas Empire, which poked fun at leisure centres and staff of the time. The group - known only as Lost Adventures - visited Maidenhead Leisure Centre in Berkshire last week and filmed their findings. A vast drained swimming pool, a broken sauna and run-down fitness studios are among the images captures by urban explorers on a tour of an abandoned leisure centre.
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