The Borden Park Natural Swimming Pool is the first chemical-free public outdoor pool to be built in Canada. The pool involves a balanced ecosystem where plant materials, microorganisms, and nutrients come together within a granular filtering process to create “living water.” The pool technology cleanses the water through stone, gravel, sand, and botanic filtering processes. This was the inspiration behind a materials-oriented concept for the facility to achieve a technically rigorous and aesthetically integrated design whose gabion basket stone wall visually evokes the idea of filtration. The elemental form and reductive materials ease the user experience and enriches the narrative of bathing in the landscape.

Jury Comments

“Exemplary on every level. A beautiful project that responds to its use in an imaginative way and pushes into new territory in science and technology. Sensitive use of materials, exquisitely detailed.” “A subtly beautiful and innovative project that combines forward-thinking sustainability with respect to program and architectural design. “A sustainable public project that is also beautiful—this is a precedent-setting, stand-out project for Canada, and everything you want to celebrate.” “Truly transformational, ground-breaking, and clever in terms of use of technology. It goes beyond expectations. This building is a tool that will teach people; it will be pedagogical for its users and the community.” Publish Date : 2021/Jun/14