Public pools on the coast

At first glance, building a swimming pool on a coastal edge might seem an unstrategic decision why would anyone choose to bathe there having the immensity of the sea or river just a few steps away?

However, despite our first intuition, in many cases these constructions are perceived as really significant infrastructures by people with reduced mobility, children or other actors for whom natural bodies of water may represent unsafe spaces. From this perspective, the coastal pools are presented as connecting devices that link people and the landscape, enabling the use of maritime and fluvial territories so that new actors can enjoy the water safely, without sacrificing the views towards the aquatic horizon.

Public pools on the coast — “Rock swimming pool” at Cronulla Beach (Australia). Image © Photographic Collection [Wikimedia] Under CC BY 2.0 license

In any case, operating in a coastal edge situation is far from straightforward. It requires a deep understanding of water dynamics and a thorough study of the territory in its different natural registers (geological, topographical, etc.). The changing condition of these landscapes, tied to the cyclical behavior of the tides and the logic of river flows, blurs the concrete limits of the physical support, leading to the development of ambiguous and fluctuating spaces on which it is not easy to build. However, many architects and designers have ventured into this task, seeking to achieve an articulation between architecture and landscape and a rapprochement between people and the coastal edges.

On the occasion of the celebration of World Oceans Day, we offer a selection of 10 projects of pools on coastal edges (both maritime and fluvial) that invite community enjoyment and enhance the democratization of access to bodies of water: