Transforming the humble community swimming pool
As summer sizzles, work on Sydney’s newest aquatic centre kicks off and Perth’s new pool at Scarborough Beach makes a splash. How can aquatic centres – traditionally a drain on community budgets – work better?
The majority of large swimming pools around Australia are owned by local councils and are a significant drain on already-stretched budgets.
While the health and social capital benefits of swimming pools are crystal clear, on average, indoor pools achieve over 90 per cent cost recovery, and outdoor pools typically achieve 60 to 70 per cent.
Meanwhile, the community expectations have evolved beyond tidal rock pools and -metre lap pools.
The humble swimming pool has been recast into a multi-function aquatic and leisure centre that offers a range of services and appeals to a broad cross-section of the community.
Last week, the City of Sydney announced construction of the Gunyama Park Aquatic and Recreation Centre at Green Square would soon kick off under the direction of CPB Contractors.
The largest aquatic centre to be built in Sydney since the 2000 Olympics, Gunyama Park will feature a -metre heated outdoor pool inspired by the ocean pools along Sydney’s foreshore.
The design by Andrew Burges Architects will be complemented by a 25-metre indoor pool, leisure water areas, a hydrotherapy pool, crèche with indoor play spaces, an indoor gym and synthetic sports field.
Underscoring the importance of the multi-purpose design, Lord Mayor Clover Moore says the facility “will have something for everyone”.
In Perth, the City of Stirling has opened its $26 million geothermally heated swimming pool on the foreshore of Perth’s Scarborough Beach.
This pool, which like the Gunyama Park, is aiming to achieve a Green Star rating, will maintain a temperature of 26 to 28 degrees Celsius by tapping into the local naturally-heated aquifer. This system offsets roughly 1,800 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year.
City of Stirling Mayor Mark Irwin says the centre, which includes a -metre pool and children’s splash park, is “more than a place for locals to swim laps”.
The facility is being promoted as a “go-to fitness centre” and tourist destination. Restaurant and cafe owners are hopeful that the swimming pool will help to reactivate the Scarborough Beach foreshore.
Scarborough’s new centre follows the unveiling of the $109 million complex in nearby Cockburn Aquatic and Recreation Centre that opened in May 2017.
Designed by dwp in collaboration with Sandover Pinder, the centre incorporates both community and elite sports under the one roof. Among the facilities are aquatic recovery and warm water therapy pools, an altitude chamber and indoor running track for the Fremantle Dockers AFL football team. Four waterslides and eight pools are also designed to appeal to people of all ages.
Mike McGrath, dwp’s Sport + Leisure Leader, says there are clear design challenges in co-locating facilities.
“The design of Cockburn ARC means the football team has access to a much wider array of facilities, including a six-court indoor stadium; while the community can use more specialist areas like recovery pools and allied health spaces,” McGrath explains.
Bringing both community and elite sport facilities together offers other “social capital benefits” like community pride, McGrath adds.
McGrath says there are clear design challenges in co-locating facilities.
“We needed to design spaces that offer elite athletes exclusive access sometimes, but accommodate the public at other times,” he says. But the result is a building that works harder and delivers greater value for money.
“It’s about doing more with less,” McGrath concludes.