WilkinsonEyre was appointed to design this new swimming pool for Worthing Borough Council following an RIBA competition. The new complex includes a six-lane, 25-metre pool, a combined learner/diving pool, indoor leisure pools with rapids, flumes and outdoor waters, a health and fitness centre, café, crèche and flexible space for other activities.

The main pool hall acts as a viewfinder, connecting the street with the seafront, and the building terminates in a series of glazed façades directly overlooking the water. This device creates a striking internal space awash with natural daylight. The environment was challenging – the saline coastal context, coupled with the chlorine-rich pool area, made for a harsh context.

The copper and timber cladding was designed to provide a robust envelope to the building, and will gradually weather as the structure settles into its surroundings. Splashpoint was designed with the close involvement of a number of user groups and other community stakeholders. In fact, its name was selected after a local newspaper ran a competition for school children to come up with a title for the new complex. In its first month, May 2013, Splashpoint welcomed an unprecedented number of visitors, with more than 54,000 people coming through the doors.