The Royal Commonwealth Pool is a category-A-listed building[4] in St Leonard's, Edinburgh, Scotland that houses one of Scotland's main swimming pools. It is usually referred to simply as the Commonwealth Pool and known colloquially as the 'Commie'.
History
The pool was commissioned by the Council under a plan by the then Lord Provost, Sir Herbert Archbold Brechin in 1966 as part of a wider project to bring the Commonwealth Games to Edinburgh. This, with the help of other committee members such as Sir John Inch, came to fruition in October 1969.
Swimming gala at the Royal Commonwealth Pool in 2013
It was also nominated in 2002 by the Architecture Heritage Society of Scotland as one of the most significant modern contributions to Scottish heritage. These sentiments were echoed in Prospect 100 best modern Scottish buildings, published in 2005.[8]
S&P Architects were the architects and lead consultants for the 2012 refurbishment and were awarded the Scottish Design Award in 2012 for the best reuse of a listed building.
Refurbishment
In June 2009, the pool was closed to the public to begin refurbishment.[9] The project, led by Frank and Charlie of S&P Architects (now Space&Place Architects) began in August 2009, costing approximately £37 million, and included new 25 metres (82 ft) diving and teaching pools as well as improvements to the changing rooms, café, reception, and the dive gym.[10] It was originally expected to be finished by mid-2011[11] but did not reopen until March 2012.[12][13]
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