Suters designed Noble Park Aquatic Cente completed for community

The Noble Park Aquatic Centre - Water for All (NPAC) project has been completed for the City of Greater Dandenong.

Representing the first major redevelopment of the Noble Park pool since it first opened more than 50 years ago, Suters Architects' design for the facility was shaped with the community, one of the most culturally diverse in Victoria, in mind.

A key objective of the redevelopment was to provide a recreation destination where people from different backgrounds and ethnicities could meet to relax, get fit and socialise.

The design does this through its strategically located congregational areas including a café, central foyer, and public use zones such as multi-purpose rooms that appeal to a range of user groups. The aquatic components include a new 50 metre heated outdoor pool, indoor program pool, splash pads, aqua play equipments and the rejuvenated Noble Park water slide - Melbourne's largest.

In an Australian first, Suters incorporated a motorised screen (shutters) in the indoor pool design.

Suters Architects Clinton Wyner said that this was imperative in ensuring everyone in the community could feel comfortable in enjoying the facilities, stating "the motorised louvered screen can close off external views of the pool hall. This allows for other cultural groups to participate while in keeping with their cultural ideals.

"This was incorporated seamlessly into the architecture of the building without any impact on the building's overall aesthetic."

Dubbed 'more than just a pool' by The City of Greater Dandenong, the facility also includes spaces for worship within multipurpose rooms that allow for greater flexibility depending on community needs as they can be expanded and reconfigured to suit different fitness and function schedules.

To further reflect the community's diversity within in the colour scheme and interiors, Suters worked in collaboration with community artists Emma Anna to develop a strong concept with an original colour theme based on the unique reflection on Australian bathing culture.

A series of patterns and motifs were developed referencing wave forms and the interweaving lines of water as visual metaphors. The eight colours carefully selected for the colour palette include a range of blues representing water and the sky, greens representing grass, and yellow representing the sun - all natural elements at play within the facility and applied across various facets and features of the building.

A graphic expression of stripes was also applied to reference iconic summer beach towels and umbrellas.

The facility is managed by Belgravia Leisure.

For more information contact Heather Knowles of Suters Architects on 0458 219 201, E: h.knowles@sutersarchitects.com.au, www.nobleparkac.com.au

Image courtesy of Suters Architects.