Creating the ideal Regional Aquatic Facility

Increasingly regional centres are investing in indoor facilities to ensure the community can engage in aquatic activity year-round. Concept commissioned by Dubbo Regional Council.

Warren and Mahoney’s Daryl Maguire shares the guiding principles his practice has defi ned to create the ideal aquatic centre to meet current and future needs of regional areas

As sports are at the heart of any regional community, the immersion in water is one of life’s truly lovely leisure activities.

Having worked on more than 30 large aquatic and sporting projects around the Pacific Rim over the last few decades, Warren and Mahoney has spent some time coming up with a sound approach for how to meet the aquatic needs of inland communities where, for many, an aquatic centre is their only water-based leisure experience.

As Warren and Mahoney Senior Associate, Tom Vandenberg explains “what we’ve found with regional aquatic facilities is that they were often built with that idea of replicating the natural water source - a lake or an ocean.

“The existing facilities are often all outdoors, uncovered and while they provide a slice of summer where there is no beach or foreshore, they are typically only used for six to eight months of the year. It gets pretty cold inland in winter.

“Compare this to the builds of centres in metropolitan cities, where there are often multiple options for indoor training or leisure 12 months of the year.

“So, we’ve spent quite a bit of time coming up with a strategy that can extend the usage of these regional facilities and, thereby, enhancing the role an aquatic centre can play as a social hub for those communities all year round.

“We’re often tasked with upgrading or building new structures that will support comfortable temperatures for people wanting to swim outside daylight hours - such as Learn to Swim before school or competitive swimmer training.

“On top of the Learn to Swim and competitive swimming opportunities these facilities provide, we believe regional centres need and deserve an enhancement in the usage and range of play activities available to them and we’ve used six guiding principles of design to achieve this.”

Our six guiding principles to create the ideal aquatic facility for inland regions: 1. Sustainability and Energy Efficiency It is essential that any new facility is designed with strong sustainability outcomes embedded.

Adding any new indoor component to an existing sporting or aquatic facility will naturally require more energy resources and must also work in conjunction with the existing outdoor facilities.

Planning needs to centre around the latest in environmentally sustainable design (ESD) principles including ‘open balance’ mechanical design, heat pumps for both water and air and 300kW of photovoltaic cells on the roof to provide solar energy resource.

This should be complemented by the adoption of a low carbon timber structure – using principles like Mass Timber and CLT – and the careful consideration of how to maximise daylighting through the orientation of external windows and overhead glazing.

The ideal regional aquatic centre has a welcoming entrance and streetscape that is consistent with the identity of the community. Concept commissioned by Dubbo Regional Council.

2. Streetscape Any new leisure centre should work in a complementary fashion to the existing local streetscape and environment.

A facility of this scale requires a strong, clear entrance and generous public forecourt that can contribute to a strong civic environment and can represent the people of a region.

It should bear an impressive façade with a welcoming and dynamic form that provides an inviting and active arrival experience for the community. 3. Community Connections Ultimately, the ideal regional aquatic centre should provide an opportunity to create a strong sense of pride while delivering on the environmental and operational imperatives for simple planning and functional efficiency.

The design should adopt forms and materials that are familiar to the residents and create a strong sense of identity and connection to people and place.

A new facility can connect to the community by being open and transparent, putting ‘sport on display’ and encouraging the widest possible participation with both recreational and competitive users.

A strong rhythm of forms and the use of natural materials adds to a sense of ‘belonging’ of the centre within the local landscape. 4. Internal Interconnectivity

By visually connecting the different activity areas internally – whether they are aquatic, gyms or other sports facilities, the ideal centre will provide opportunities for different user groups to connect, thereby allowing ‘cross-fertilisation’ through visual connection and observation.

For example, by visually connecting an aquatics hall with the fitness and wellness components using open glass structures and centralised wayfinding points, it is possible to engage the widest group of users within an interconnected facility. 5. Efficient Design and Construction By setting out logical structural grids, using prefabricated modular construction and minimising unnecessary architectural complexity it is possible to deliver a cost effective and efficient building without compromising architectural quality.

Vandenberg notes “our approach is to always prioritise ‘quality over complexity’ - reducing unnecessary complexity in order to achieve a high calibre design result for the community.” 6. Great Now, Better Later He goes on to say “we believe architecture must make way for the constantly changing variety of activities within.

“Excellent sports buildings get better with time. While immediate success is a core project requirement, improvement with age is a higher ambition that demands the consideration of the effects of use and occupancy.

“Great community recreation and aquatic centres need to withstand heavy use while enabling adaption and expansion to cater for changing demographics and community needs, without interrupting ongoing operations.” Daryl Maguire is Studio Principal at Warren and Mahoney Architects.

Making the most of natural light will ensure indoor buildings are more energy effi cient. Concept commissioned by Dubbo Regional Council.