Canada's first natural swimming pool by gh3 architecture wins plaudits for innovation
by Andy Knaggs | 08 Aug 2019
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 Park relies on the cleansing capabilities of sand, gravel and a range of aquatic plants and microscopic organisms.
The US$11m (€9.8m, £9m) project was put together with the help of consultants Polyplan (pool engineering), the German natural pool specialists Morrison Hershfield (structural, mechanical, electrical, civil and LEED), and BTY (cost consultants). Polyplan devised the all-important treatment and filtration process that keep the water clean.
Built on the site of a previous pool dating from the 1950s, Borden Park NSP includes some of the original buildings from the 1950s pool, but also features gabion walls made of pieces of local dark limestone that are held together without mortar by being enclosed in wire cages, adding a further thematic nod to the porousness of the filtration process for the water.
Borden Park Natural Swimming Pool Alberta Canada gh3 architecture Polyplan Morrison Hershfield BTY Royal Architectural Institute of Canada
A view across the natural swimming pool Credit: gh3 architecture
Plants and microscopic organisms as well as sand and gravel clean the water of impurities introduced by humans Credit: gh3 architecture
A simple plan showing all the important parts of the natural swimming pool Credit: gh3 architecture
Entry doors to the swimming pool Credit: gh3 architecture
Borden Park has a main swimming pool for adults and this one for kids Credit: gh3 architecture
An example of the dark limestone walls behind poolside showers Credit: gh3 architecture
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
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