Perth waterfront precinct Elizabeth Quay is undergoing a major transformation to redefine the metropolitan centre for Perth and reconnect with the Swan River.
GroupGSA has proposed an Olympic-size pop-up pool to promote health and wellbeing while providing active engagement between the public and the water.
“The idea came from visiting the quay over the last couple of years, from the excitement of first completion to seeing boarded-off areas for future development, and understanding it was going to take maybe a generation to complete the big towers,” says Will Lakin, principal at GroupGSA.
“My attention turned to what we could do to support the city to activate one of the central tourist hotspots for public use.”
The pop-up pool, designed within a simple barge vessel that can be easily relocated, will also include timber decking, changing facilities and diving boards.
A pontoon will act as a semi-permanent structure to which the pool barge and other future vessels can also be moored to. The pontoon will offer a raised sun deck, integrated showers and access to the river while administrative and management facilities will be located on shore within a shipping container.
According to GroupGSA, while Elizabeth Quay has succeeded in its ambition to bring the water and the city together in a physical sense, there is still an opportunity to create a more direct engagement between the public and the water. Addressing the lack of publicly accessible pools in the city could be the solution.
Image credit: GroupGSA
