Leeds International Pool The Images
Such a crass waste of a building, what the cost to clear and repair, bring up to date? what cost to ensure people like us can not just enter, we might have been some of those people who have trashed this place, yes i did see the crack pipes full of bread..
I was in awe and fear of this place, stood there rooted to the spot my first time, what must it be like if you have swam there to see her is this state.
The International Pool was designed by the architect John Poulson and was completed in September 1967.
The building was an innovative design incorporating sharp concrete lines and large expanses of glazing within a lightweight framework of steel. The building s a dramatic building, strongly geometric, uncompromising in character, and a landmark for the city. These attributes are offset by its harsh concrete and inhospitable external spaces, its value as a piece of Leeds 1960’s architecture is second to none.
The International pool has never lived up to it's full potential over the years. Originally the Pool would be built to Olympic standards. However, in order to cut costs, Poulson was asked to reduce the width of the tank in his design.
It was the decision of the Council to reduce the design width of the pool which led to rumours that the pool was not big enough for competitions, a myth which has been chinese-whispered into a number of variations, the most prevalent, but incorrect, being the pool was 1 inch to short when the tiles were added.
Unlike many of Poulsons buildings, The Leeds International pool showed considerable design flair and imagination. Even today, after years of neglect, the Pool hall itself is a stunning space. The building won a national Civic Trust award in 1969. The diving board is a spectacular work of art with 3, 5, 7 and 10m boards 1 and 3m springboards.
The pool has been a controversial building and an integral part of the cityscape of Leeds for the past four decades; now the disused sports complex is to become the site of an ambitious installation created by acclaimed international artists and architects OSA (Office for Subversive Architecture).
OSA are hosting The Accumulator, which will transform the building into a virtual water collector via a huge textile funnel in the building’s central glazed roof space.
Visitors will be able to walk around the dry pool floor and sit on red seating dotted about from the former public viewing areas to take a look at the installation from the inside. It will also be illuminated at night.
Leeds artist Pippa Hale will contribute an installation called Pool which includes a series of projections showing people engaged in a range of activities associated with the building, from learning to swim to taking a bath. Her work is designed as a celebration of the building and the different communities that have used it over the years.
For Leeds council, who are backing both of the artworks, the project is a way of raising the city’s profile on the international stage.
“Leeds is an international city capable of attracting the best international talent and the OSA collaboration certainly demonstrates that, ably supported by one of our best local artists,” said Cllr Andrew Carter, Leeds City Council Leader and executive member for Development.
“If we are to be a serious player on the international stage we must make bold statements like this which prove we can compete with other major European cities- not only in business, tourism and sport but also the arts and other public arenas.”