The Swimming Centre completes a series of municipal sports facilities built through the last decades. The building, set northeast of the urban core develops along a promenade with a plantation of pines near the Henares River. The scheme is a straightforward linear succession of elements: vestibule, changing rooms and utility core, instruction vessel and multipurpose vessel.
The new construction materialises externally as a great basket weaved with prefab concrete girders, set parallel to the Pine Promenade. The project links the entrance to the complex with the three buildings at the northern end, by means of a small porch that leads onto a common foyer. The basket of prefab beams blurs the edge of the construction: during the day, the hall and the lobby receive sunlight filtered through the façade, while at night, the building becomes an illuminated beacon, a soft glow for the people strolling along the Pine Promenade.
Due to the proximity of the water table, the building is raised above ground level. The Swimming Centre is on the first floor, leaving the ground floor of the new building for storage and services. This solution mitigates the problems caused by the proximity of the Henares River, and makes the main hall dominant over the degraded surroundings while providing a clearer vision of the horizon and the nearby mass of trees.
The new construction materialises externally as a great basket weaved with prefab concrete girders, set parallel to the Pine Promenade. The project links the entrance to the complex with the three buildings at the northern end, by means of a small porch that leads onto a common foyer. The basket of prefab beams blurs the edge of the construction: during the day, the hall and the lobby receive sunlight filtered through the façade, while at night, the building becomes an illuminated beacon, a soft glow for the people strolling along the Pine Promenade.
Due to the proximity of the water table, the building is raised above ground level. The Swimming Centre is on the first floor, leaving the ground floor of the new building for storage and services. This solution mitigates the problems caused by the proximity of the Henares River, and makes the main hall dominant over the degraded surroundings while providing a clearer vision of the horizon and the nearby mass of trees.
TECHNICAL DATA. Location: Paseo de los Pinos, San Fernando de Henares, Madrid. Architects: Luis M. Mansilla and Emilio Tuñón. Client: Municipality of San Fernando de Henares. Collaborators: Andrés Regueiro, Fernando García-Pino, Matilde Peralta, David Nadal and Robert Reininger. Structural engineers: Alfonso Gómez Gaite. Mechanical engineers: J.G. Asociados. Quantity Surveyor/Technical Architect: Santiago Hernán and Juan Carlos Corona. Design project: January 1994. Work completion: December 1998. Built area: 2.500 m². General contractor: Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas SA. Photographer: Luis Asín.
