Aquatic Centre at Sarawak Sports Complex
The Aquatic Centre was designed in 2004 and awarded as a Design and Build contract to be completed in time for the 2016 SUKMA Games. The project brief required the Aquatic Centre to comply with FINA World Championship standards; a world class centre capable of hosting international competitions and aquatic events.
In addition to the design of the aquatic centre, we started off with looking at the existing Sarawak Sports Complex. After our study, we proposed the addition of Central Public Plaza to act as the central focus of the complex, which was lacking in the existing layout. The function of the Central Public Plaza:
To act as the central focal point for orientation and point of arrival for the sports complex, and the assembly of visitors during sports events / public functions.
To act as the forecourt for the three main arenas: Stadium Negeri, Stadium Sarawak, and proposed aquatic center.
Venue for multi-purpose celebrations / functions / gatherings. This help to bring more public activities into the sports complex, which otherwise are only used when there is sports activities.
The sustainability of the Centre is an important part of our design, and we proposed to the client to include a children leisure pool, function rooms, and a gym, to encourage usage by the public and not just for competitions and training. This would then generate income to sustain the operation of the Centre.
The Aquatic Centre consists of three competition pools with finishing and fittings of standards and dimensions to comply strictly with latest FINA Standards relating to international competition:
Competition Pool 50 m (L) x 25 m (W) x 3 m (D)
Diving Pool 25 m x 25 m x 5 m (D)
Training/Warm Up Pool 50 m (L) x 21 m (W) x 1.35 – 1.8 m (D)
It has a grand stand with a seating capacity of 2070 seats.
The main design concepts were passive solar design with cross ventilation to minimize mechanical means, and a nautical aesthetic. Accessibility for the disabled was an important consideration of the design of the building, with the main entrance ramp becoming the front façade design feature. The circular design elements were used throughout the building: on the plans, sections, walls and ceilings.
The children leisure pool area is less formal; more playful and colourful, with a water slide and bubble pool, umbrella falls and water curtains – all laid out in a 1,000 m² footprint shaded by a tensile membrane roof.
The most rewarding aspects of this project was the collaboration effort between the design and building teams who were empowered to make decisions on design and layouts, which gave them the ownership of the building.
Text by the architect
PROJECT GALLERY
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Architect : Perunding Dayacipta Architects
Client : Ministry of Social Development Sarawak
Project Location : Kuching | Sarawak
Year : 2016 -
C&S Engineer : Perunding Jurutera Wahba Sdn Bhd
M&E Engineer : KTA (S) Sdn Bhd
Quantity Surveyor : PEB Consulting QS Sdn Bhd
Contractor : PPES Works Sdn Bhd and PN Construction Sdn Bhd JV
Design Team : Wong Siew Ling
Photography : Perunding Dayacipta Architects -
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