Vision Magazine
O
ne hundred and eight years ago a disused
brickworks quarry in Melbourne’s Surrey Park,
Box Hill was filled with water to become a
district oasis. During its peak popularity, crowds of up
to 3,000 converged on the 100 by 90 metre water-hole
to cool off or meet under the leafy glade of eucalypts
and pines. The old waterhole hosted endless festivities
including swimming carnivals during the Edwardian era.
In the 1930s, with an expanding population, a public
swimming pool was constructed around 100 metres
to the east. By the 1970s greater creature comforts
demanded an enclosed swimming pool adjacent to the
outdoor pool. A more complete suite of leisure facilities
was updated in the mid-1980s.
The latest $30 million update is such a wholesale
makeover that only the awkward triangular footprint of
the previous complex is recognizable. The new centre,
for the City of Whitehorse, would surely amaze the
Edwardians drawn to the area’s simple bucolic charms.
A sophisticated ratepayer base with higher leisure
expectations was reason enough to overhaul the dark
and outdated ’80s version to meet changing demands.
Located just metres from the original water-hole and
beautifully integrated into Surrey Park, the Aqualink
Box Hill thinks big, yet retains a lively human scale.
Glass, water, landscape and historic counterpoint
all come together in a celebration of leisure, fitness
and well-being.
Gray Barton, project director of Williams Ross Architects
discusses the design of a facility grounded in a long
tradition of water-sport and play.
How did the history of site influence or shape
your approach?
While it didn’t shape our approach in a formal sense
there are important connections right across the site of
the old and the new. The idea of connecting with the
historic diving pools and later 1930s facility meant we
leap-frogged that potted history from water holes to
Edwardian pools because water has been such a crucial
part of this area for so long.
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