Monkwearmouth, Vaux Brewery Way, Aquatic Centre

HER Number:
16921

District:
Sunderland

Site Name:
Monkwearmouth, Vaux Brewery Way, Aquatic Centre

Place:
Monkwearmouth

Map Sheet:
NZ35NE

Class:
Recreational

Site Type: Broad:
Sports Site

Site Type: Specific:
Swimming Pool

General Period:
Modern

Specific Period:
C21

Form of Evidence:
Extant Building

Description:
Built in 2008, costing £20 million. This is the North East's first 50m pool, the only such facility between Leeds and Edinburgh. The building was designed by Redbox Architecture of Newcastle and built by Balfour Beatty. The pool is 25m wide so it can accommodate 10 lanes, which is the Olympic requirement. The only other pools which meet this standard are in Sheffield, Leeds, Glasgow, Cardiff and the London 2012 Aquatic Centre. The floor is moveable so that depths can be adjusted for different users including those in wheelchairs. The main pool is home to the City of Sunderland Amateur Swimming Club. It can be divided into sections to allow flexible use. The building was chosen as host for the ASA National Championships in August 2010. The centre was used as a pre-Olympic training centre for the 2012 London Olympics. The building has 11 curved glulam roof beams, each spanning 52m across the pool. These glued laminated beams were sourced from managed sources in Austria. Rainwater from the roof is collected and recycled for use within the centre. The building is super-insulated to maximise energy usage. Lynn Pearson describes the Aquatic Centre as 'elegant, uncluttered and bathed in natural light'.

Easting:
3924

Northing:
5804

Grid Reference:
NZ39245804

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
Lynn Pearson, 2010, Played in Tyne and Wear - Charting the heritage of people at play, pp 74-75, 186-187