Swimming Pool Dome at the Oasis Leisure Centre, Rodbourne Cheney, Swindon

Summary

A leisure pool, designed in 1974 by Peter Sargent, ARIBA, with Trevor Wilson and Mark Potiriadis, of Gillinson, Barnett and Partners. Built 1974-1975 and opened on 1 January 1976. The dome over the pool was designed and manufactured by Roper IBG International, USA. The principal contractor was McAlpine, with William Cox Spaceglazing Ltd as the specialist subcontractor for the dome over the pool.

Only the domed swimming pool and the earthen bank are included in the listing. The waterslides, their launch tower and splash pool; the ‘dry’ side; the linking entrance block; and the service structures attached to the south side of the entrance block are excluded from the listing.

Description

MATERIALS: the leisure pool is constructed using an aluminium space-frame, fixed to a reinforced-concrete perimeter ring beam, creating a dome covering the ‘wet’ side of the leisure complex. The dome was re-glazed with flat polycarbonate sheets in 2014. The interior of the pool area includes tiled and plaster finishes.

PLAN: the site is orientated east-west with the leisure pool to the east of the entrance block and 'dry' sports side (excluded from the listing). The leisure pool is encased under a 45m circular dome rising from a grassy berm (or raised bank), forming a circular plan.

EXTERIOR: the leisure centre is approached from the north, and access is via the two-storey entrance block (excluded from the listing).

The grassy berm rises from the surrounding land and is continuous around roughly three-quarters of the dome. A splayed section is cut out of the berm on its north side, with concrete retaining-walls flanking large windows and double doors with aluminium frames which give direct access to the pool. The berm is further punctuated by three sloping strip windows with multiple lights around its circumference, lighting the pool area.

The dome measures 45m in diameter and rises to a height of 9.1m above the reinforced-concrete ring beam which forms its base. The dome’s space frame is formed from extruded aluminium alloy members running as ribs from the ring beam to the crown, with levels of hooped purlins running horizontally around the structure. The fields are glazed with flat polycarbonate panels added in 2014. The structure is topped by a metal ventilation louvre with a domed head.

At the south-eastern point of the dome is the launch tower for the three waterslides which emerge in a splash tank built on the former sun terrace; the tower, waterslides and splash tank are not included in the List entry. To the east are the entrance block and dry sports side of the building; neither are included in the List entry.

INTERIOR: the leisure pool is wholly-contained under the space-frame of the dome, covering an uninterrupted area 45m in diameter, with a central C21 heat exchanger. The pool is set below ground level on the north side, so the circular side-walls are set under the sloping berm, rising straight up for a short distance, then sloping, on the back of jowled upright reinforced-concrete ribs. Walls and ribs are plastered on a mesh underlayer. The main pool (the lagoon) is irregularly shaped, shelving gently from floor level to its maximum depth of 1.9m. Around the pool edge on its west side is a series of raised balconies with railings, and steps down to the poolside. On the north side is a ‘sun terrace’ with a circular footprint (this was referred to on the original plans as a ‘dry beach’). Around the perimeter of the pool are a number of concrete planters, taking the form of raised beds with a white, grey and beige tile finish. The planters also incorporate seating covered in blue mosaic tile, and GRP ‘rocks’. Clustered-globe lamp posts from the original scheme survive. The pool lining is tiled in blue and white mosaic, with depiction of dolphins (not the 1976 scheme). To the east, a short, triple slide extends over the deeper end of the pool, adjacent to which at the upper level is a geodesic observation pod. On the south side is a shallow learners’ pool divided from the main pool by a low dividing wall with a fun tiled crab design. Behind the learners’ pool is a short tunnel called ‘Tutan’s Tomb’; its original purpose is unknown. Remnants of a desert-themed mural also survive in this area.

The wall screening the changing rooms has a mosaic 'Oasis' logo, and a tiling scheme in orange, grey, white and black.

Pursuant to s1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’) it is declared that the waterslides, their launch tower and splash pool; the ‘dry’ side; the linking entrance block; and the service structures attached to the south side of the entrance block are excluded from the listing.

History

The Oasis Leisure Centre in Swindon was one of a group of early municipal leisure centres in England which marked a shift away from sporting facilities for training for excellence and competition, towards leisure facilities where the emphasis was fun for the family. This shift was prompted by the Wolfenden and Abermarle Reports, published in 1960, which highlighted the need for provision of more sports facilities, and also how exercise could positively help change problematic social habits of the time. The reduction in the length of the working week resulted in more free time for most working parents to spend with their families; and the rise of the affordable package holiday meant that British towns needed new attractions to bring in people who were now able to holiday abroad as cheaply as at home.

The architectural partnership of Gillinson, Barnett and Partners (GBP), headed by Peter Sargent and Clive Barnett, were considered the pre-eminent designers of leisure centres in the UK in the 1970s. They had previously worked extensively in the commercial entertainment industry, designing such huge complexes as the New Bristol Centre for Mecca Entertainments (opened 1966; dem. 1999), and they saw clear parallels with the needs of the leisure sector. GBP set up their own Leisure Research and Development Unit in 1968, to find out what the widest constituency of people wanted their leisure centres to provide. They visited sports centres around the world (including the Houston Astrodome), undertook research with people, and searched for technology which would help them to achieve user-led designs. Peter Sargent, writing to the Architects’ Journal in 1971, was clear that they should be democratic, and provide for popular choices: ‘Architects in the leisure industry should design for people other than themselves. They should also know what the majority of people like and how they choose to spend their leisure time.’

The resulting designs for pools replicated the fun and informality of a family holiday in the sun: places which could be enjoyed by all generations, including temperature-controlled leisure pools in natural shapes with gentle shelving to allow children to play as if at the beach, with tropical planting thriving in the 28 degree celsius warmth, spaces for diving, and slides for splashing. Their leisure pools each incorporated a wave machine, technology in which GBP invested heavily, including funding a research partnership between the University of Newcastle and manufacturers, to develop new designs. The ‘dry’ facilities in the new leisure centres were highly flexible to allow for a wide variety of sport and leisure activities, as well as spaces for relaxation, eating, and entertainment.

The earliest of this new generation of leisure centres with ‘fun pools’ was built by Bletchley Urban District Council at Bletchley in Buckinghamshire, designed by Faulkner-Brown, Hendy, Watkinson and Stonor (opened 1974, demolished 2009); its free-form pool was housed under a high, Perspex-glazed pyramidal space frame. GBP’s first new-generation leisure centres opened in Rotherham and Whitley Bay in 1974. Peter Sargent referred to these sites as their ‘mark one’ leisure centres. GBP’s ‘mark two’ leisure centres, which exhibited greater concern for their external form, followed swiftly; the first of these was the Oasis, built in 1974-1975, followed by leisure centres in South Shields and Sunderland which opened in 1977 and 1978 respectively.

Responding to criticism that the new leisure centres often appeared stark externally, Peter Sargent wrote in a letter published in the Architectural Review in 1974: ‘We take your point that these centres can look stark from the outside. I think you will find that the second generation of sports centres for which we are responsible and which are on site at the moment should show development that recognise this fact; Swindon for example is to have the leisure pool under a large glazed dome on a grassed berm which arises from the landscape… however, [it] will follow our thesis that the skin will be as simple as possible. The contents are the heart of the building.’ Writing in an article in the RIBA Journal in October 1976, in which he used the Swindon centre as a case study, Peter Sargent set out more of the firm’s philosophy on the design of leisure centres: ‘Our attitude to the family came from our noticing that all orthodox leisure facilities split up the family. In a person’s growth, the minute you got married and the minute you got saddled with children you were in trouble, you couldn’t do anything all together. Leisure should be all-embracing; the family must be involved. A pool appeals to everyone. The social side was the driving force to our approach.’

The Oasis Leisure Centre in Swindon was built for Thamesdown Borough Council at a total cost of about £3 million. The site was formerly occupied by part of the Great Western Railway works which was partially cleared in 1971 when steam engine production ceased; and the route of the former Wiltshire-Berkshire Canal (abandoned in 1914) ran along its western boundary. The Oasis included all the elements that the firm had found to be essential to the building type: a large, free-form pool in a circular enclosure with shallows; a diving pool; a ‘dry beach’; waterslides; a paddling or learners’ pool; and a wave machine producing waves up to 1m high. All of this was enclosed under a 45m (147ft) diameter glazed dome which appeared to grow out of a grassy berm - or raised bank. A planting scheme for the integral planters was designed by Anthony Walker and Associates, written up as a case study in the Architects’ Journal in March 1979. The ‘dry’ side of the complex, a three-level space frame construction, was described by Sargent as a ‘Flexihall’. It had spaces for a wide variety of sporting activities, including ‘fixed’ amenities such as squash courts, but had the flexibility to host discos and pop concerts. An entrance building, linking the ‘wet’ and ‘dry’ sides had a wide concourse for a restaurant and bar overlooking the pool, with changing facilities below, at pool level. The Oasis was well-received in the architectural press at the time of its completion, winning a gold medal in the 1977 Design Awards Competition for American National Swimming Pool Institute.

In 1987 three fully-enclosed waterslides, at the time the longest in the country, were installed alongside the dome; they were by Davenport Engineering, the first company in the UK to manufacture and install water slides. This resulted in some alterations to the pool including the replacement of the former external sun terrace with a splash pool where the flumes terminated, and the creation of an opening to allow access to the external launch tower (rebuilt 2018). A smaller, open flume was later installed within the interior of the dome, and the diving pool was converted to a base for the stair to the flume’s launch. That year the Oasis was Wiltshire’s most popular tourist attraction.

In the 1990s, Liam Gallagher reportedly took the name of the Swindon leisure centre, seen on an Inspiral Carpets tour poster, for their Britpop band, Oasis.

The PVC ‘bubble’ panels on the dome were largely replaced with flat polycarbonate sheets in 2014, at which time other repairs to the structural elements of the dome were also undertaken. The entrance concourse was also refitted and given new finishes.

Reasons for Listing

The swimming pool dome at the Oasis Leisure Centre, Swindon is listed at Grade II, for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* dating from 1974-1975, the 45m diameter glazed dome rising from a grassy berm is a sophisticated and architecturally striking structure which provides a dramatic setting for the pool within;
* the aluminium spaceframe dome is carefully detailed and exhibits clear engineering virtuosity, and is well-suited to the function, having withstood the humidity of the pool environment;
* carefully planned by the architects to create an interesting and attractive leisure environment, and retaining an extensive selection of original features, including the shelving lagoon pool, separate learners’ pool, GRP rocks, and planting troughs;
* the principal features and the structure survive well, and while the dome has been re-glazed, the structural framework, general form and architectural intention remain clear;
* an exemplar of the work of Peter Sargent of Gillinson, Barnett and Partners, a leading architectural practice that remains the most synonymous with the early development of the leisure pool.

Historic interest:

* the fourth leisure pool known to have been built in England, and now the earliest surviving in a recognisable form;
* representative of an aspect of the development of leisure centres which saw a shift of swimming from fitness to fun, relating to and reflecting changing social conditions in the period, and which became a building type that gained huge popularity in the following decades.

External Links

Historic England Listing

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