New construction swimming pool / Mölndal
On the same site as the former Åbybadet Mölndal city now has a new public bathhouse. In the heart of Åby Arenastad, you will find a building that extends beyond the functional aspects that characterize most sports facilities. Here, a building has been created that blends in with the surroundings in different ways and levels. The protruding entrance has created a natural transition with simple means that attracts many visitors and emphasizes an urban character.
Year
2019 - 2023
Location
Idrottsvägen 9, 431 62 Mölndal
Customer
Dressed
Contact
Bo Wallin
0765-48 70 23
liljewall
With an eye for detail
The wooden awnings that adorn the bicycle racks outside the building connect to the entrance area by reflecting a soft light from the ground fixtures. The warm shade of the wood gives a nice tone to the lighting, and in this way it blends into the leafy surroundings on the entrance side. The plinth has an orange rust shade that adds life and variation at eye level and creates a certain contrast to the bricks above. The detailing of the facade, with vertical recesses in the plinth, breaks up the scale while the vertical windows create a classicist expression in a modern interpretation. By using horizontal running joints and narrower joints in the horizontal bands above and below the windows, they are given the character of solid beams that frame in. The other brick fields have a wider pressed joint and a specially designed vertical joint with a quartz stone offset to create contrast and hide the element joints with their width. The union is reflected in the contrasting markings throughout the building, which also reflect the proportions of the standing windows.
For a large building with long facades, where people walk and cycle closely along the sports path, it is important to encounter detailing on a human scale up close.
Warm and robust material choices
Inside, the standing light wooden panels set the tone and basic colour. The exposed tectonics emphasise the load-bearing elements in the façade and suspended ceiling, and a new interpretation of classicist coffered ceilings creates a spatial focus over the pools. In addition, the openness between the different pool rooms, in combination with standing concrete elements, creates a certain feeling of a colonnade. A dark grey frame of benches, clad in granite ceramics, surrounds the pools, from where it is possible to enjoy views of the lush surroundings. The standing window arrangement creates light that bounces off the sides of the window niches and is softened before it reaches the room.
There is a well-thought-out sequence in the building where the visitor experiences security in the low-key changing rooms and a monumental feeling when walking through a bathing gallery and reaching the large halls. The transitions between different rooms and the visitor’s experience have been made smooth and at the same time clear through carefully designed details, color and material choices.
The children’s pool has a nature theme, which gets more of a fairy tale feel from the dark starry sky, which we know from children’s fairy tale rooms in library buildings. There is much to discover here for both the smallest and slightly older children, with fairy-tale caves and play figures. The bottoms of the pools have mottled colors to give a soft and lively feel. The colors are also coordinated with possible colored lighting to create depth in the color tones. There are a number of attractions, such as water games and bubbles, a current channel with a water curtain and slides, which offer a variety of water activities.
Relax indoors or on the terrace
The relaxation area is located in a secluded area in the southwest corner, while being connected to the multi-purpose pool and the 50-meter pool. This inner corner provides excellent conditions for the terrace to have a wind-protected microclimate. By allowing a curtain of trees to grow around the relaxation area and its terrace, a relaxing feeling of closeness to nature can be created, despite the proximity to traffic routes and industry.
Two artists
In the project, we have had an active collaboration with two prominent artists, selected through competitions where we participated in the jury work. Fredrika Linder has created an artwork with LED-illuminated spheres of hand-blown glass that welcome visitors in the entrance and continue to guide them through the entrance hall, and Ania Pauser has designed enchanting swimming creatures in glazed ceramics that adorn both the café area and the adventure pool. These artistic elements have enriched the project with unique and colorful details that enhance the architecture and create a memorable experience for visitors.
Project team
-
Senior adviser
Bjarni Ingvason
-
Project engineer
Bo Wallin
-
Managing architect
Anders Nilsson
-
Administrative engineer
Frida Ullman
-
Participating architect
Ana Romano
-
Participating architect
Gustaf Hammerbo
-
Landscape architect
Andreas Johansson
-
Lighting design
Alexandra Huuva
-
Short facts
-
Mission
New construction
-
Status
Completed
-
General contractor
Dressed
-
Tenant
Mölndal Municipality
-
Location
Molndal
-
Year
2019-2023
-
Gross area
approximately 10,370 square meters
-
Pools
Multi-purpose pools, 50-meter competition and training pool, 25-meter pool, teaching and play pool, children's pool
-
Other
Sauna and relaxation area, cafe
-
