THREE QUESTIONS TO THE ARCHITECTS

JEAN LUC CALLIGARO BRUNO PALISSON

What do you see as the biggest challenges in the design of a swimming pool?

An aquatic centre project must choose its future site carefully. It must be exemplary in environmental terms. Water is a source of life and pleasure and a place of learning that sharpens the awareness to especially protect water as one of our planet’s resources.

The project structures its location and must fit into the site whose history continues to be written. An aquatic centre also has a building dimension that must ensure an intimacy shared by swimmers and a consideration of lanes, lights and orientation.

The biggest challenges in the design of a swimming pool are:

• The optimisation of the available space in order to offer users maximum functionality while conforming to safety and accessibility standards at the same time.

• The consideration of sustainability and energy efficiency in the design of the building and water treatment systems.

• Adaptation to the needs and expectations of users, be they professional athletes or families seeking leisure and recreation.

• Management of the budget and operating costs so as to offer a high-quality experience while keeping prices affordable for users at the same time.

How important is sport for you as an architect?

Sport is a wonderful way of fostering social cohesion, passion and a sense of community. Sports clubs are privileged places for meetings, for surpassing oneself and for competition in a respectful manner.

It is also a constructive link for project planning. It is based on such concepts as exercise and the pleasure of experiencing the body, the tensing of muscles, concepts that we reinterpret to design the structure of a building that organises itself between the expression of forces and the passage of light, between the course of the sun and the paths of gravity.

Which theme will leave its mark on sports architecture in the near future?

Designing spaces in sports facilities is a complex task that requires consideration of both functionality and sensory experience. It is important to design spaces that meet users’ physical and emotional needs while providing them with a stimulating and inspiring environment.

Sports architecture in the near future will be marked in our view by greater integration of digital technologies and innovations in sustainability and energy efficiency. Sports buildings could be equipped with smart sensors to monitor equipment usage, air and water quality, and control heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems in real time and autonomously. In addition, it will become increasingly important to use sustainable and recyclable materials in order to reduce the environmental impact of these buildings. Finally, sports facility design will increasingly focus on user experience, with an emphasis on safety, accessibility and user comfort.

Location

Portsmouth, UK

Client / operator

University of Portsmouth

Architect & principal designer FalknerBrowns Architects www.faulknerbrowns.co.uk

Consultant

(Sustainability, M&E, Lighting)

Max Fordham LLP www.maxfordham.com

Author

Françoise-Claire Prodhon

Photos

Hufton + Crow

Richard Chivers

Official opening

September 2022

Construction costs

GBP 57 million (EUR 65.6 million)