Haileybury School Pool
Subscribe now to instantly view this image
Subscribe to the Architects’ Journal (AJ) for instant access to the AJ Buildings Library, an online database of nearly 2,000 exemplar buildings in photographs, plans, elevations and details.
Already a subscriber? Sign in
The curved roof profile and the glazed wall give the building a dramatic look at night
Peter Cook/View (website) Download Original
A new sports facility for Haileybury School, housing a swimming pool, and providing a link to existing facilities
The brief was for a 25m, six-lane pool of competition standard which could also be used for water polo, aqua sports and canoe training, and by inexperienced swimmers and learners. The design exploits the contours of the site. The water level in the pool is on a plane with the external forecourt.
Spectator galleries are set 1.4m above the water, on the same level as a new terrace along the edge of the woodland.
Key elements in Studio E’s design are the highly sculptural ‘floating’ roof, supported by structural ‘trees’, and the use of glazing to permit views right through the interior.
The building is naturally lit, rarely needing artificial light during the day. The structure is exposed with steel 'tree' supports holding the laminated Swedish timber roof beamd which shape the lightweight, profiled steel cladding roof. The changing rooms are built as solid masonry.
In the summer, roof vents can be opened to allow natural ventilation to minimise humidity, while a mechanical ventilation system is also in use. The large glass wall is double-glazed to reduce heat loss when cooler.
Data
- Begun: 1995
- Completed: 1996
- Sectors: Sports and leisure, Education
- Total cost: £1.3M
- Tender date: 1994
- Address: Haileybury Sports Complex, Haileybury, Hertford, SG13 7NU, United Kingdom
Professional Team 
- Architect: Studio E Architects
- Project architects: Andrzej Kuszell, Ian Hossack
- Client: Haileybury and Imperial Service College
- Services engineer: Max Fordham Associates
- Structural engineer: Dewhurst MacFarlane & Partners
- Quantity surveyor: Spicer Partnership
- Main contractor: Willmott Dixon
Suppliers
- Roofing: WW Roofing
- Pool tank: Aqua Design and Play
- Pool plant: Thermelek Engineering
- Architectural steelwork: Estuary Fabrications
- Profiled metal roofing: Plannja
- Timber beams: Moelvln Laminated Timber Structures