Kennedy Town Swimming Pool to appear in Hong Kong exhibition

The new Kennedy Town Swimming Pool will be featured at the 10 X 100 Exhibition Hong Kong Edition, opening this Friday, 17 February at PMQ in Central, Hong Kong.

The second and final phase of the Farrells-designed swimming complex opened to the public on 7 February. This phase comprises the indoor pools, including a 50-metre main pool, a 25-metre training pool, and a jacuzzi. The first phase, comprising a 50-metre outdoor pool and a children’s leisure pool, opened in 2011.

The 10 X 100 Exhibition will showcase notable architecture and urban design from Hong Kong and Mainland China from the past decade. It will include 50 works from Hong Kong architects alongside 50 works from Mainland designers.

“The exhibition is timely. We have been working on the swimming pool since the West Island Line project began, when it was decided to build the new Kennedy Town MTR station on the site of the former Kennedy Town pool at Smithfield. The full completion of Kennedy Town’s replacement pool has been many years in the making,” commented Farrells director Stefan Krummeck. “The building is unique in Hong Kong – not only due to its form, but also the materials, which include weathering zinc cladding and transparent roof membrane which floods the swimming hall with natural light.”

Likened to a futuristic spaceship by Hong Kong media, the new swimming complex owes its distinctive shell-like shape to the streets and historical tram line that define the triangular site.

The Kennedy Town Swimming Pool has won citations including Large Project of the Year 2016, awarded by the New Engineering Contract (NEC) of the United Kingdom’s Institution of Civil Engineers.

15 February 2017