Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
“Not just for fitness fanatics, this is a place for all people to enjoy the center in different ways—even if it’s simply reading the paper in the sun and enjoying the occasional dip,” states Andrew Burges of Andrew Burges Architects.
Andrew Burges Architects, Grimshaw, and TCL collaborated on the design for Sydney’s new Gunyama Park Aquatic and Recreation Centre—the largest pool complex in Sydney since the 2000 Olympics.
In 2014, the architectural team responded to our open architecture competition calling for a new pool and recreation center to serve Green Square’s growing population.
Their winning design saw the seamless integration of an urban beach pool into a park and surrounding native landscape inspired by the area’s former wetlands.
Ultimately, their design created Sydney’s oldest industrial heartland, which is transforming into a vibrant, sustainable, and connected community.
The striking design was inspired by Sydney ocean pools and is both beautiful and functional.
The expansive complex is set to be Australia’s most accessible and sustainable facility of its kind.
From children playing and friends taking a dip to serious swimmers improving lap times—Gunyama Park Aquatic and Recreation Centre offers something for everyone.
The architecturally impressive site brings a hub of green, open space, and recreation to this former industrial area.
It features plenty of outdoor space to relax and play in, including a playground and picnic facilities, fitness training circuit, and multipurpose sports field.
The architects have designed an innovative energy co-generation system to heat and power the center.
The system gives the flexibility in managing energy consumption and helps us reduce our carbon footprint.
It also makes the center significantly cheaper to run every year.
A large array of solar panels on the roof of the center is connected to the local electricity network across the road in the Green Infrastructure Centre.
This allows any surplus electricity to power buildings in the neighboring community and cultural precinct.
From an energy point of view, the pavilion produces 60% of the energy it consumes and various initiatives have been taken to contain the consumption of drinking water, as well as to recycle more than 85% of the waste produced.
Project: Gunyama Park Aquatic and Recreation Centre
Architects: Andrew Burges Architects and Grimshaw Architects
Design Team: Andrew Burges, Chris Mullaney, Gero Heimann, Louise Lovmand, Isabell Adam, Min Dark, Eric Ye, Lucas MacMillan, Alex Wilson, Regan Ching, Cameron Deynzer, Grimshaw Design Team: Nard Buijs, Marcel Press, Robert Mcfee, Tom Vandenberg
Landscape Architects: TCL Landscape Architects
Client: City of Sydney
Photographers: Peter Bennetts and Brett Boardman
