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Abstract

Headnote

FaulknerBrowns specialise in sports and commercial leisure developments, and have designed 150 projects containing swimming pools. The Manchester Aquatics Centre is their latest pool, completed in July 2000. This paper describes the development of this project.

Headnote

Keywords:

compact, development of brief, feedback, flexibility, landmark, value for money

INITIAL BRIEF

2002 Commonwealth Games

Having won the bid for the 2002 Commonwealth Games, the city of Manchester required a new pool complex for the five aquatic disciplines:

- swimming

- diving

- water polo

- synchronised swimming

- synchronised diving

The city and universities' community

At the same time, and more importantly in terms of best value, Manchester city and the three central universities, Manchester Victoria, UMIST and Manchester Metropolitan, required a community recreational and clubs pool facility.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE BRIEF

FaulknerBrowns were selected to undertake a feasibility study to develop a more detailed brief, select a site and establish a budget.

The key consideration was how to balance the 1 per cent needs of the Commonwealth Games (two weeks in a 50-year lifetime) with those of a 99 per cent community facility. While this would be only the third new SOm pool complex to be built since the Edinburgh Commonwealth Pool in the 1960s, and only the tenth SOm pool to come into operation out of a UK portfolio of 1,600 public pools, revenue economics dictated that the pool could only be afforded if it had wide public usage. There therefore had to be a serious attempt to satisfy both needs well.

Feedback from Ponds Forge international poot

The last 50m aquatics centre to be completed in the UK was in the Ponds Forge international sports complex at Sheffield in 1990. The pool element of this complex covered 15,000m2 and included permanent seating for 3,000 spectators.

In respect of the Manchester project, three important decisions were made in consultation with the Amateur Swimming Federation of Great Britain (ASFGB), Sport England and the Manchester client.

- Ponds Forge, which is less than 40 miles from Manchester, would remain the UK's premier international spectator pool and would continue to host the majority of national and international events.

- This decision would mean that the Manchester project need not be so comprehensive in...

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