End client: King's College School Contractor: Knight Harwood Architect: David Morley Architects
The King’s College School swimming pool hall is one of three leisure spaces created for the school’s new sports centre, housed within a complex of Grade 2- and Grade 2*- listed buildings. Internally, the timber elements sweep upwards to create a viewing gallery. The space visually knits together indoor and outdoor elements, with the flush pool edge and glazing on all three sides offering views to the outside.
Timber works particularly well as a material for pools due to its resilience to moisture where other materials are corrosion-prone. In addition to wood’s resilient properties, the use of timber for the superstructure, rather than steel or concrete, saves in excess of 100 tons of carbon emissions.