How to build an indoor swimming pool next to a listed building

How a 10m x 5m pool can transform your home

This indoor pool and private leisure-facility includes: a games room, snooker room, a pool hall, a shower facility and a gym area. The project is built on the side of a Grade 2 Listed building in rural Herefordshire. The property is a C17th farmhouse located in the Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The design makes good use of existing circulation to and from the main house, and is sympathetic to the scale and character of the listed building.

To achieve this a lightweight connection is used, as a glazed link, attaching the new build to the farmhouse. This link provides an opportunity to introduce wall colours to brighten up a small connecting space and define the entrance to the leisure facility. Even on a dull winters day the access area appears as a warm and inviting area, all due to the use of colour.

Local stone is used to clad the exterior of the new building, and large plate glass windows are used to maximize day light into the interior of the pool hall.

Working closely with a local steel fabricator, Thomas Forge, a sculptural staircase was created, providing a sculptural showpiece staircase that appears to float above the floor.

Natural riven slate and warm red & orange tones are used in the interior. Tiles are used extensively throughout the interior, for flooring, wall finishes, and feature spaces.

A deck level pool surface is used to maximise water depth, saving on excavation depth into the ground, and improving water quality as there is a continuous overflow to clean surface debris. This seamless waterline within the pool hall transforms the indoor pool into a luxurious feel.

Indoor pools are expensive and it is important to get the pool engineering, detail specification, and have the right team on board before you build. As errors down the line are expensive to put right.

Date: 2010
Client: Private
Contract: Traditional
Contractor: Steadman & Sons