Architects aim for highest standards in sustainability in rebuilding of Northcote Aquatic and Recreation Centre

Darebin City Council’s plans for the complete rebuild of the Northcote Aquatic and Recreation Centre are looking to not only offer a contemporary array of aquatic, fitness and recreation features but also to include the highest standards in sustainability with the aim of attaining an optimum Green Star Design rating for the facility.

Built in 1968, the City of Darebin has been considering a range of options to update the popular but ageing inner Melbourne facility over recent years. Initial plans indicated the updated Centre could include multiple pools, an outdoor waterpark, fitness centre and a therapy pool. However, with recommended maintenance set to cost more than $3 million over the next decade an independent report found it was unfeasible to refurbish the facility.

As a result, the Council last year embarked on plans to demolish and rebuild the much-loved pool, which could cost up to $60 million. Funding is expected to come primarily from the Council, with possible contributions from the Victorian Government.

The initial $3 million design contract was awarded to architects Warren and Mahoney Architects, designers of multiple aquatic, recreation and sport facilities, including the $150 million sports park at La Trobe University’s Bundoora campus and the new Christchurch Metro Sports Facility.

With early designs to be presented to the Council and stakeholders in the next nine months, lead architect Daryl Maguire of Warren and Mahoney said staff at the firm were excited to get started on an “amazing project”.

Maguire stated “we love working on community projects, they’re facilities that people live and breathe in everyday of their lives.

“They live to remember their first swimming lessons 40 years later.”

With Warren and Mahoney aiming for a 6-star Green Star Design and As Built rating in its design for the Centre, Maguire acknowledges that there will be a number of challenges in the design, including attempts to retain the outdoor pool at the site.

Maguire is mindful that pools are notoriously energy-hungry but feels the use of insulation, landscape and orientation and solar panels would help cut power usage.

The facility will most likely have a fully integrated Photovoltaic (PV - the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials) array and smaller footprint filters for the pool hydraulics system.

Speaking to sustainable building website The Fifth Estate, Warren and Mahoney Senior Architect and Head of Recreation and Sport, Brett Diprose said the redeveloped Centre would have a “much closer connection between the mechanical and electrical designers and pool hydraulics designers so that systems are symbiotic”.

In this system, heat generated from electrical or mechanics systems can feed into the pool hydraulics system to heat the pool.

The design, Diprose explained, will include “multiple levels of science” and rely on engineering expertise rather than being dictated by form.

He also advised “tor the first time, with this project we are almost reverse engineering our approach because we know what outcomes we want to achieve and performance outcomes we need.”

A Building Information Management (BIM) system will allow these scientific approaches to be put to the test. For example, by using the BIM it will be easier to strike the right balance between natural daylight coming in versus the amount of glare on the water, which can pose problems for lifeguards it obscures what’s happening underneath the surface.

As well as keeping the new Centre running smoothly, the BIM will play a key role in communicating the building’s sustainability credentials to the public by using signage and infographics.

Advising that the designers want the pool and the spaces around it to be more welcoming and inclusive, Diprose added “it’s about taking something like the Disability Discrimination Act and universal design and actually supercharging those to take them to a far more human level.”

He expects also expects to see more of this with the Green Building Council of Australia’s new pilot program, Green Star Future Focus, concluding “it’s a matter of taking the traditional green star, that is very scientific about the way it performs, and applying far more human outcomes, so the language changes to how the patron experiences the aspects of Green Star that are so important to the financial and environmental viability of a project.”

Darebin City Councillor Trent McCarthy has advised that the Council and the community had high aspirations for the project.

Images: Swimmer at the Northcote Aquatic and Recreation Centre (top, courtesy of Darebin City Council) and Warren and Mahoney Architects' design for the Christchurch Metro Sports Facility (below).