Society bid to ‘protect’ iconic hyperbolic paraboloid – Waterworld ‘submitted for listing’
The Twentieth Century Society has launched a new campaign to “celebrate the architecture of the leisure centre and to protect the most historic examples”, including Wrexham’s iconic Waterworld.
The Society is a charity ‘campaigning to save Britain’s modern architectural and design heritage’ and Wrexham’s Waterworld is one of ten buildings the group say have been ‘submitted for listing’.
They say leisure centres are “…some of the most architecturally innovative structures of the late twentieth century, combining environmentally controlled environments with soaring engineering and playful pop imagery. Is there any other building-type that’s as wildly varied and downright eccentric? Space-age geodesic domes, diamond glazed pyramids, castellated forts, brutalist elephants and Moorish postmodern palaces are just a few of the highlights of this idiosyncratic genre.”
Speaking of their selections they add, “Some key examples remain from the 1970s boom in publically-funded municipal leisure centres, others are playful evolutions on the theme from more recent decades, while the exotic continental import of Center Parcs signalled a later shift to a packaged holiday experience. Most were designed around a free-form tropical pool, others focussed on hard courts and recreational sports. All are underappreciated and unexamined buildings in need of our support.”
The Society explain they work to ‘save outstanding buildings and design’ that have shaped the landscape since 1914, “Some are iconic, others are little-known gems, but all of them are irreplaceable and many are under threat”, with the group founded in 1979, as a direct response to growing interest in C20th architecture and to complement the preservation work of the Victorian Society, which was founded in 1959.
As we reported back in 2014 there had been local calls for Cadw to list Waterworld as it could have been earmarked for demolition during a council leisure review, however the listing request was rejected.
From our report back then, Cadw explained the rejection: “In 1997 a major refurbishment was carried out by S&P architects. Overall, the outward expansion of the original envelope to accommodate additional spaces has had a significant impact on the overall character of the building.”
Cadw acknowledged some elements of the history of the building raised saying: “This building is of architectural and historic interest in terms of its design and use of a parabolic roof, and as an example of a post-war swimming pool. It also has rarity value as one of very few swimming pools constructed in the post-war period in Wales and is the only known example of this type of roof structure in Wales.”
The summing up negated the rarity arguments though: “The merit of this kind of roof structure as an architectural expression of form is also questionable as they were more fashionable and widely used at the start of the 1960’s. Most of the other examples of simple parabolic roofs are earlier and although rare, Waterworld is not a unique example of this type of structure outside of the specific use for a swimming pool within the UK.”
The conclusion almost a decade ago was: “Cadw does not consider that the listing criteria are met and the building cannot therefore be listed.”
Now the Twentieth Century Society appear to be looking again at that decision, and have published their own view of the building and the historic process.
Waterworld appears on a list of ten centres ‘submitted for listing by C20’, alongside Bells Sports Centre in Perth, Center Parcs Dome in Sherwood, Clickimin Leisure Complex, Coventry Sports Centre, Concordia Leisure Centre in Cramlington , The Dome in Doncaster , Perth Leisure Centre , Ships and Castles Leisure Centre in Falmouth and Walker Activity Dome in Newcastle-upon-Tyne
The detail on the future of the site also hints at some long term concerns over the future of the building in the full statement from the society:
Wrexham Baths, known today as Waterworld Leisure and Activity Centre, was constructed in 1967 to the designs of F. D. Williamson and is believed to be the only hyperbolic paraboloid roof in Wales, covering an area of approximately 50 x 50m beneath. Its glazed east elevation looks out assertively over the adjacent A5152 and roundabout, while its west elevation contains a series of barrel-vaulted volumes that step up towards the pointed apex of its roof. The interior has been altered by renovations in 1997 and 2017, yet despite some infilling under the roof, the constituent spaces are broadly the same, and the roof remains the dominant feature, rising and falling dramatically above the flumed pools.
Following fears that the centre would be demolished due to falling revenue and rising maintenance costs, an attempt was made in 2014 to get the building listed. Cadw (the Welsh Government’s heritage body) refused its designation on the grounds that the building had been ‘altered too significantly to be considered as an exemplar building of its type.’ However, the roof – the key feature which provides its interest – remains as originally designed. So too does the distinctive, main elevation to the south-east. Waterworld Leisure and Activity Centre is still in use today with no formal proposals put forward for its closure. However, Wrexham Council has expressed long term plans to reorganise the county’s leisure services and has looked into building a new facility elsewhere in the city.
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