Radionica Arhitekture (literally Architecture Workshop) have designed a swimming centre for the Dubrava District of Zagreb, Croatia, that is split into three large, glass, sunken volumes. The 5,570sq m (60,000sq ft) facility is located between a residential tower, a church and a meadow, which is being developed for mid-rise housing. To avoid the area becoming too built up, Radionica Arhitekture felt it was necessary to moderate the profile of the

A radical ring-shaped aquatic centre with wellness facilities and outdoor green space – designed by Andrew Burges Architects, Grimshaw Architects and McGregor Coxall – is to be built in Parramatta, Australia. The centre, which will be nestled into parkland surroundings and cover a total area of approximately 18,000sq ft (1,670sq m), will feature a 10-lane, 50m outdoor pool, a 25m indoor pool and facilities for individuals learning to swim, as

Honoured this year among the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada's Awards of Excellence in the Innovation in Architecture category, Borden Park Natural Swimming Pool in Edmonton, Alberta, is the first chemical–free public outdoor pool to be built in Canada. The 64,000sq ft (19,500sq m) complex, which includes two pools, a sandy beach and changing rooms, was designed by Toronto-based gh3 architecture. Instead of chlorine or other chemicals for disinfection, Borden

Finnish architects OOPEAA have won a competition to design and create floating sea pools for public use in coastal cities and towns around the world, with the first to be rolled out in Oulu in the north of Finland. Following a pilot project in Helsinki in 2016, city development and investment group Töölö Urban ran the competition in April 2018 to commission a firm to design the Allas Sea Pools.

Architects HawkinsBrown have completed an elegant timber pool hidden among the trees for a school in the English county of Surrey. Swimmers using the 25m, six-lane competition pool can view the surrounding woodland through a series of windows integrated into the building’s timber frame. The architects used off-site fabrication methods to create the facility for Freemen’s School in the village of Ashtead, which replaces a previous pool building destroyed by

The city council of Derby, UK, has unveiled ambitious plans for a new swimming and leisure facility designed by international design practice FaulknerBrowns Architects and overseen by project managers Mace. The proposals include a ten-lane, 50m swimming pool; a leisure water area for families; a learner pool; a gym; fitness studios; a sauna; steam rooms; a café and a soft play area. The adaptable main pool will contain two booms

A joint venture between Canadian studios HCMA Architecture + Design and NFOE et Associés Architectes have won a design competition to create a striking circular aquatics centre in Laval, Quebec – designed to create an experience of “swimming within a forest.” The competition jury had called for submissions imagining the new Complexe Aquatique de Laval as a vital civic centre, subtly integrated into the site’s woodland ecosystem. Tucked into an

A “stadium-like” new aquatics centre in Budapest has been unveiled ahead of the World Swimming Championships, which will be held at the venue in five months. The Dagály Budapest Aquatics Complex, also known as the Danube Arena, has been completed just two years after the Mexican city of Guadalajara withdrew as host of the championships due to financial problems, and Budapest agreed to step in. The facility was originally designed

The International Association for Sports and Leisure Facilities (IAKS) has planned an “unprecedented sharing of expertise, insight and discussion” on the design, development and operation of leisure centres and swimming pools this week. International architects, engineers, government officials and leisure centre operators will converge in Dublin from 9-10 February to discuss topics such as state of the art sports facility design, creating sustainability, future-proofing and encouraging inclusion. Facilities used as

The organisers of Paris’s bid for the 2024 Olympic Games have unveiled plans to build a 15,000-capacity aquatics centre if the city’s application is successful. Located in the Saint-Denis region of Paris, the centre will house two 50m (165ft) swimming pools and two diving pools. Once the Games are over the capacity will be scaled down to 2,500. The aquatics centre will be the only facility that will need to

French architects Agence Search have won a competition to design a sustainable, green-roofed aquatic centre on the west coast of France. The studio have been granted a budget of €8.7m (US$9.7m, £6.7m) by the local government of Chateaulin and Porza communes to create a currently unnamed 8,000sq m (81,000sq ft) complex bringing “leisure, education, relaxation and wellness to the community”. The centre will be located in a forested plot near

Architecture studio Farrells have been honoured with an NEC Award for their delivery of a waterfront swimming pool in Hong Kong. The firm, led by Terry Farrell, won the NEC Award for Large Project Of The Year 2016 – which recognises excellence in project delivery and good practice. They were commissioned to build a new home for the Kennedy Town Swimming Pool, after its former facility was demolished to make

The philosophy of feng shui has inspired an Issy les Moulineaux-based swimming pool, sports and wellbeing centre designed by French architecture practice Mikou Studio. The centre, located in the southern suburbs of Paris and known as Piscine du Fort, is clad in an wave-like double skin, with open and accessible façades that use rounded windows and skylights to filter in daylight. Design features are carefully positioned to create a sense

A new 60,000-capacity stadium, a velodrome and a tennis complex will be built if Budapest wins its bid to host the 2024 Olympic Games. The City Council for the Hungarian capital has approved the list of venues, which include seven cluster and five stand-alone arenas within the city. Most of the Games events have been earmarked for the new athletics stadium – which will be scaled down to 15,000 seats

Conceptual plans for a new £26m, "super-efficient" swimming pool complex in Exeter, Devon have gone on public view for the first time. The proposals for the Exeter Active centre – designed by Gale & Snowden Architects and driven by Exeter City Council (ECC) – show a 25-metre competition standard, eight-lane pool alongside a four-lane training and recreation pool. Both pools will have moveable floors to provide flexibility for a range

Dubai developer Nakheel has clinched a deal with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide to operate a new hotel featuring one of the world’s highest infinity pools. Located on the 50th floor of Palm Tower in Dubai – some 210m (689ft) above the ground – the pool will border all four sides of the building, offering 360 degree views of the surrounding Palm Jumeirah island and out towards the Arabian Gulf.

The 314-bedroom Grand Hyatt Playa del Carmen opens on the Riviera Maya in Mexico today (15 June), along with the property’s Cenote Spa, which is inspired by the local freshwater swimming holes of the same name. The natural cenotes in the surrounding areas are formed by geological rock formations and are considered by many to be energy centres, as their waters contain high concentrations of minerals and nutrients. The 6,000sq

Designed by Rotterdam-based Ooze Architects, a naturally filtered swimming pool is under construction in the heart of London’s King’s Cross redevelopment. Ooze Architects, working in collaboration with Slovenia-based artist Marjetica Potrc, have come together to create the freshwater pond. The structure will be 10m (32ft) wide and 40m (131ft) long. Completely chemical free, the pool, which will be used for swimming and outdoor activities, will be surrounded by a green

The Hyatt Playa del Carmen, Mexico, designed by Mexican architect Javier Sordo Madaleno of Rockwell Group, is scheduled to launch on June 1 2015 featuring a natural mangrove jungle, oceanfront infinity pools and a spa. Within the 314-bedroom beach resort there is a spa with cenotes – natural pits featuring groundwater that are used as swimming holes. These are typically found on the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. The new hotel

Launching in April, an online crowdfunding campaign is looking for £250,000 (US$383,425, €336,544) to make outdoor swimming in London’s Thames a reality. Plans for an outdoor swimming pool, known as the Thames Baths, have been in the works for a while. Originally designed for a competition “London As It Could Be Now” in early 2014, architecture practice Studio Octopi came up with the initial outline for the project. The practice,

A legal challenge to prevent Oxford City Council closing a public swimming pool so a £9.2m replacement can be built has been dropped, following the High Court’s rejection of the claim the community had not been properly consulted. Councillor Van Coulter, member for the council’s leisure board, said he was glad the “costly and time consuming” case – launched in October 2011 – was over. The council plans to operate

A new £7.8m swimming pool is set to launch in Montrose, Scotland this month. The new 25m, six-lane swimming pool will link to the existing Montrose Sports Centre and will also feature a viewing gallery and a studio pool which incorporates a moving floor to allow variation in pool depth. The pool will be used both for competitive and community swimming. The complex was designed by Angus Council architect Dave

A new £16m swimming pool and leisure complex is set to open in South Shields, Tyne and Wear in early 2013. The Pier Parade project is part of South Tyneside Council's regeneration plans. It was designed by LA architects and is being built by Graham construction. It will feature a 25m, eight-lane competition pool; an 18m teaching pool and leisure waters with flumes; sprays; bubble pools and water play. The

Image: Worthing's iconic new Splashpoint complex A topping out ceremony has marked the latest milestone in construction of Worthing's new £17.9m leisure complex, which will replace the West Sussex town's Aquarena venue. The Wilkinson Eyre Architects -designed swimming pool - recently named Splashpoint - is to include separate competition pools for diving and swimming when complete. Other facilities will include children's shallow pools, a flume, water features and saunas and

Image: Gourock's new-look outdoor swimming pool Inverclyde Council has opened Gourock's 103-year-old outdoor swimming pool, following the completion of an extensive £1.8m refurbishment of the facility. Work included the construction of new changing areas and modern pool facilities, as well as the addition of a glass-fronted gym with 65 pieces of equipment and a functional training area. The new gym features equipment from Pulse Fitness, Anytime Leisure and Star Trac.