Domestic Leisure Complexes
I. Introduction
A Leisure Complex with a pool, gym, sauna and cinema room requires different environments for every activity. Hence it is essential that it has an appropriate floorplan, appropriate insulation for each compartment separation (floors and walls) and integrated air/water control systems.
For instance a gym that is either alongside or over a pool hall needs an operating temperature some 8 -10 degrees less than that in the pool hall. Consequently it would be necessary to have one system heating the air and water in the pool hall, an air conditioning system cooling down the gym and another heating system maintaining the temperature in the cinema. All these energy costs must be minimised so that the Leisure Complex does not cost an excessive amount to operate. As a consequence, such buildings are extremely complex and difficult to design - especially where space is restricted.
II. The Layout
A typical leisure complex will include changing facilities, showers, sauna, gym, lounge area, plant room, access and access routes.
It is vital that the pool hall air is not shared with the rest of the house because the structural elements can be damaged and the cost of running the pool will increase significantly. Hence, it is preferable if there is a transit zone between the pool hall and the house accessed by two doors with adequate draft proofing.
The cost of running the Air Handling system relies on the volume of air being treated and hence the volume of air needs to be minimised by laying out the pool so that the air in these ancillary facilities is not part of the AHU system.
Lounge areas in the pool hall with chairs and a coffee table are often designed into the layout. They are never used because the atmosphere is too hot and humid to sit in unless the pool cover is on the pool and the humidity levels are set very low. A comfortable environment will then take about an hour to be achieved and will cost a lot in energy. Some layouts feature a bar with seats - this is even less likely to be used as everything in the bar is hot and wet.
Saunas are designed to provide very dry heat and will not work properly if the sauna shares the same air as the pool hall. Metal elements in the sauna will also corrode very quickly.
The gym can overlook the pool but must be separated without direct access because a gym needs to be dry with a temperature 7-8°C below the pool hall temperature. Furthermore if the access to the gym is from the pool hall, every time the door is opened the gym will fill with warm, water laden air. As soon as the door is closed and the gym temperature drops the water vapour will condense in and on the gym equipment and ruin it in a few months.
It is increasingly important for wheelchair users to access the pool without any support from someone else. Cranes that lift individuals from the wheelchair into the water are not easy to use and most people are understandably very nervous of them.
New equipment called "PoolPods" have become popular in commercial pools and are now available for installation in private domestic pools. They provide fully safe and quick pool access but the pool structure needs to be specially designed to incorporate their installation. Bluepools can provide the complete design and installation service for the Pool Pod.
All Bluepools projects are built using Insulated Concrete Formwork. Find out more about the construction details on how to build the pool hall of a domestic leisure complex.
Building Pool HallsIII. Air/Water Environments
The sustainability of a domestic leisure complex depends on the controls for air and water temperatures and the relative humidity. This is always provided by an Air Handling Unit (AHU).
For domestic indoor swimming pools the best AHU's combine a dehumidifying heat pump with low energy digital fan technology, enabling highly effective environmental control with minimal energy use.
The pool plant room must be at the same level as the pool hall so that the Air intake of the AHU can be placed at low level and as close to the pool as possible. The AHU must also be provided with a fresh air intake and a waste air outlet that need to be connected to the atmosphere outside - preferably through a wall with the inlet and outlet grills at least 2m apart.
It is necessary to position the plant room over part of the Undercroft that must be provided in an indoor pool - for more details see below.
The installation of supply ductwork to the diffusers that create a curtain of warm air in front of all the external glazed areas can be very costly and there may just not be enough space in the Undercroft to accommodate it.
In these circumstances, the plant room access door can be of the "sealed room" access type so that the plant room and undercroft become the plenum chamber. In these conditions, care must be taken to make sure that there are no leakage points from the plant room or the Undercroft.
IV. Plant Room & Undercroft
The plant room must be as close as possible to the pool itself. It is also vital that the cables and pipework running between the pool and the plant room are accessible for maintenance and repair when leaks occur.
The best structural solution is to provide a flat slab over the entire footprint area of the pool hall and plant room so that the basement walls and pool tank walls can be built on top. The void between the basement walls and the pool tank walls is then covered with a beam and block floor slab that spans between the pool tank walls and the basement walls. This provides a structurally robust and insulated substructure. The "Undercroft" areas - as they are known - provide dry accessible space for all the ducting, pipes and cables that are completely accessible for maintenance. Part of (or the whole) of the plant room floor can be provided with an open mesh grid that facilitates the installation of the cabling and pipework.
This approach to indoor pool design is far easier to build and hence cheaper than in the past when pool halls were designed with the pool hall having conventional deep strip foundations and the pool with its own separate foundation. As a result all the ducting, pool fittings and pipework were buried in the soil between the swimming pool and the pool hall foundations. If there was a leak from any of these fittings the expensive pool hall floor would have to be dug up and the ducting is susceptible to corrosion. This always tends to happens when a pool project is built using an Architect and a Pool Installation Contractor.
Pool Plant RoomV. Finishes
The polybloks allow virtually any external finish to be used including render, weatherboard, slip bricks or a full width brick skin.
Any internal finish can be applied to the ICF forms provided that it does not deteriorate under the damp conditions, as any form of gypsum plaster does. Render painted with exterior grade masonry paint and silica and cement based boards are all suitable and they can all be covered with tiling if required.
The roof structure could incorporate steel or timber components and should always be of the “cold roof” type so that the risk of damage from leakage of the pool hall air is reduced. The ceiling must always be provided with a vapour barrier and this is best provided by a “Stretch Ceiling” that is connected to the internal finishes in a way to stop air leakage. This protects the roof structure and minimises running costs.
Many Clients install these at massive cost and never use them. They seem like a good idea but they are very likely to jam and become unusable because there are so few days when the weather in the UK is good enough to use them. Several sliding patio doors are a lot less costly and seem to work really well.
Furthermore after they have been open the pool hall Air Handling Unit will take a long time to get the pool hall air back to the normal conditions and this will be costly.
All the lighting on the pool hall walls needs to be of low voltage and needs careful planning.
Bluepools has a large UK portfolio of very successful pool projects that were all custom engineered to meet a wide range of design challenges.
Our solutions are illustrated here:
Portfolio