The Harold Holt Memorial Swimming Centre is a public

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...

complex located on the corner of High Street and Edgar Street, Glen Iris,

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. Built in the 1960s by Australian architects

Kevin Borland Kevin Borland (28 October 1926, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia – 2000) was an Australian post-war Architect. His career saw works evolve from an International Modernist stance into a Regionalist aesthetic for which he became most recognize ...

and

Daryl Jackson Daryl Sanders Jackson AO (born 7 February 1937) is an Australian architect and the owner of an international architecture firm, Jackson Architecture. Jackson also became the associate professor of the University of Melbourne and Deakin Univers ...

, the Swimming Centre is considered to be a fine example of

Brutalist architecture Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by minimalist constructions that showcase the ...

. Originally built as a municipal swimming baths, in 1927, the facilities were renovated in 1967 by Borland and Jackson to accommodate for higher swimming participation numbers. It is named in honour of Prime Minister

Harold Holt Harold Edward Holt (5 August 190817 December 1967) was an Australian politician who served as the 17th prime minister of Australia from 1966 until his presumed death in 1967. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party. Holt was born in ...

, whose apparent drowning death was announced during its construction and who was the local member of parliament (representing the Division of Higgins).

Malvern Baths

In 1924 the Malvern Council voted to build the suburb's first Municipal Baths. The Education Department, who envisaged the implementation of the 'learn to swim' campaign, strongly supported the proposed location, a redundant tip site, on the corner of

High street High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym fo ...

and Edgar Street. Built at a cost of £10,476, the Malvern Baths was designed by the City Engineer, Barton Coutie. The baths included a wedge shaped pool and bathing boxes, and was designed using ideas gleaned from Coutie's examination of swimming pools in Harrow,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. The complex was officially opened by the Mayor Harry Wilmot in November 1927.

New ‘Swimming Centre’

In 1966 the Malvern Council commissioned architects

and

to design a new swimming complex, as Municipal Baths had become declared 'inadequate and outmoded' by the early 1960s. Set to be named the City of Malvern Olympic Swimming Centre, the name was changed after the sudden death of Malvern's local member and

Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the federal government of Australia and is also accountable to federal parliament under the princip ...

in December 1967. The name is cited as a "perhaps unintentional" example of Australian

black humour Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discu ...

. The Centre was opened by the Prime Minister, and new local member,

John Gorton Sir John Grey Gorton (9 September 1911 – 19 May 2002) was an Australian politician who served as the nineteenth Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1968 to 1971. He led the Liberal Party during that time, having previously been a l ...

in March 1969. The new complex cost $600,000. In 1988 the centre underwent a renovation with the additions of a hydrotherapy pool, spa, sauna and multi-purpose room for aerobics and yoga classes. Further works were undertaken in 1998 to improve pool operations and an upgrade of the filtration systems. 2010 saw a $13 million redevelopment of the centre, expanding its new health and fitness facilities as well as its Aquatic areas. The Harold Holt Swim Centre has become one of Melbourne's most popular aquatic facilities with 400,000 visitors per year.

Architecture

The Harold Holt Memorial Swimming Centre is considered to be among the most notable examples of Brutalist architecture. It is classified by the National Trust and is listed on the

Victorian Heritage Register The Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) lists places deemed to be of cultural heritage significance to the State of Victoria, Australia. It has statutory weight under the Heritage Act 2017. The Minister for Planning is the responsible Minister. ...

Influences

The Harold Holt swim centre is categorized as a

brutalist Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by Minimalism (art), minimalist constructions th ...

building by Stuart Harrison in the journal Architect Victoria, Summer 2003. Harrison talks about the complexity of the centre's siting that echoes contemporary interests far advanced for its time in the 1960s. He goes on to discuss the building as a merger between different architectural styles that create a factory like feel within a suburban area much like

Edmond and Corrigan Edmond and Corrigan is an Australian architectural firm based in Melbourne, Victoria, founded in the late 1970s by partners Maggie Edmond and Peter Corrigan, the firm's principals. The practice's work, both built and written, has been widely ...

's 1978 St Joseph's Chapel, Box Hill, Victoria, Australia. Harrison believes that the Harold Holt centre's sophistication could be read beyond its stylistic categorization as Brutalist, relating the sports function of the building to ancient gladiators: "Is it possible that Brutalism's usage for sports buildings is related to some sense of appropriateness to function? Sports as brutal, gladiatorial?"

Facilities

The Harold Holt Swimming Centre sits on a site of approximately 207 x 57 metres and consists of several pools with varying functionality and use. The indoor training pool and learner's pool are setback 40 metres from the south end of the site. There is a terrace located just north of these pools, a change rooms located to the west of the pools and a kiosk located east of these pools. Wedged between pathways that run along the perimeter of the site is a wading pool beyond which is the main pool that is approximately 49 x 14 metres in size. The Centre also features a circular diving pool at the northern edge of the site. The complex consists of five pools, including an Outdoor 50m pool and an Indoor 25m pool enclosed by a large glass walled building. The outdoor pool became the first heated pool in Victoria for year-round swimming. It was also the first pool in Australia designed to metric standards. The complex also houses a hydrotherapy pool, spa, sauna and multi-purpose room for aerobics and yoga classes, which were additions in 1988. In 1998 further works were undertaken to improve pool operations, including an indoor pool 'wet deck' and upgrade of the filtration systems. In November 2010 the Harold Holt Swim Centre underwent a $13 million redevelopment phase. The centre now features new facilities such as the health club and three fitness studios hosting over 50 fitness classes per week. Aquatic areas were expanded to include a leisure pool with water features and learn to swim pool. The Harold Holt Swim Centre also has child care facilities. * Reception – located on the ground floor, enter via Edgar Street * Outdoor 50m pool * Indoor 25m pool * Studio 1 – fitness classes * Learners' pool – learn to swim lessons * Leisure pool – fun aquatic play with water features * Indoor toddlers' pool * Hydrotherapy pool – in water ramp * Accessible change rooms (located next to the hydro pool) * Indoor female and male change rooms * Sauna (indoor spa opening soon)

Awards

RAIA (United we advance architecture) , predecessor = , merged = , successor = , formation = , extinction = , status = Professional body; members association , headquarters = L1/41 Exhibition St, Melbourne , leader_title = CEO , leader_ ...

Victorian Chapter, Citation in the Public Buildings category, 1969. Harold Holt Memorial Swimming Centre, Glen Iris (1968–69).

References

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External links

Official website
1920s establishments in Australia Buildings and structures completed in 1927 Buildings and structures completed in 1969 Swimming venues in Australia Brutalist architecture in Australia Sports venues in Melbourne Heritage-listed buildings in Melbourne Sport in the City of Stonnington Buildings and structures in the City of Stonnington