Swimming Pool Vevče

The new complex revitalizes the outdoor swimming pool area for workers built by the Vevče Paper Mill in former Yugoslavia. The location has a distinctive dual character, defined by the industrialized area of the mill and the natural landscape of the Ljubljanica river. The duality of the site and its spatial limitations formed the basis for the design concept, which addresses how to respond to its specific character and organize the new programmatic content, including an outdoor and indoor pool area with wellness facilities, a training hall and adjacent facilities.

The volumes of the buildings and voids alternate in a rhythm set by the thoughtfully organized functional layout, generating different scales and uses of outdoor spaces. The main L-shaped building follows the road geometry with its longer side screening the industrial area from the view of the outdoor swimming area, while the shorter side and a service pavilion shape a funnel-like entrance square. This layout provides a foundation for a planned pedestrian bridge that will improve connections between the site with the sports area across the river and the local center. The unified ground floor of the main building is topped by three separate volumes, reducing its scale and creating a dialogue with the smaller service buildings. The dialogue between the buildings continues through repeating architectural themes across both main and auxiliary structures, seen in the façade compositions and in elements such as horizontal windows, vertical sunshades, colonnades, canopies, and pergolas.

The structural design of the new complex is based on a sincere architectural approach that exposes the construction materials. The consistent choice of wood for both exterior and interior spaces, along with the spatial design of the building featuring carefully controlled views, creates a fluid landscape that integrates indoor and outdoor spaces into the natural environment. The basement and the communication cores are made of reinforced concrete, while the above-ground structure is constructed using exposed cross-laminated timber. Larger spans over the pool and training halls are bridged with glued laminated timber beams. Green-oriented technologies include a rooftop solar power plant and a water-to-water heat pump system that uses groundwater for heating and cooling. The new swimming pool is an important acquisition for the local community and the city, as it revitalizes a previously degraded and abandoned area, becoming a generator of sustainable development in the future.