24. Swimming Center

Location

Paseo de los Pinos, San Fernando de Henares, Madrid

Architects

Luis M. Mansilla y Emilio Tuñón

Team

Andrés Regueiro, Fernando García Pino, Matilde Peralta, David Nadal y Robert Reininger

Client / Owner

Ayuntamiento de San Fernando de Henares

Management

Luis M. Mansilla y Emilio Tuñó

Technical Consultant

J.G. Asociados y Alfonso Gómez Gaite

Quantity Surveyor

Santiago Hernán y Juan Carlos Corona

General Contractor

Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas SA

Project Date

Enero 1994

Completion Date

Diciembre 1998

Gross Area

2.500 m²

SYNOPSIS

The expansion of an existing sports complex with an indoor swimming pool is solved with two volumes of different characteristics. The interior, made of glazed panels, houses the pool volume. The exterior, a basket of stacked prefabricated concrete pieces, widens, creating various spaces between both faces, one of which defines a semi-open space that organizes the access to the complex. From the interior, the nearby trees are visible, while the view of the pool is obscured from the outside fields, except at dusk when the building appears as a lit lantern.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The San Fernando de Henares Swimming Center completes a municipal sports facility formed by several buildings, marked by the passage of time. The complex, located outside the urban center to the northwest of the city, stretches along Paseo de los Pinos near the Henares River.

With a simple functional scheme, the swimming center is organized in a linear structure, placing the different components in succession: entrance hall, locker room and restroom core, teaching pool, and multipurpose pool.

Due to the proximity of the water table, the building is elevated, locating the swimming center on the first floor, while the ground floor of the new building is dedicated to storage and facilities. This solution mitigates the problems caused by the nearby Henares River, giving the main hall a dominant position over the surrounding degraded environment, offering a clearer view of the horizon and nearby trees from the interior.

The new construction is materialized externally as a large basket formed by prefabricated concrete cross ties, which unifies the two existing levels, resolving visibility issues of the pool halls and the ventilation of the facilities on the lower floor. This basket of prefabricated cross ties blurs the boundary of the building itself; during the day, the hall and lobby are lit by external light filtered through the facade, while at night, the building serves as an ephemeral reference for those walking along Paseo de los Pinos.