Ixelles municipal swimming pool

The Ixelles municipal swimming pool is the oldest swimming pool in the Brussels-Capital Region that still exists today. The architects Alexandre Cooreman and Jules Rau, who designed this swimming pool, followed the plans and concepts in use at the beginning of the 20th century to create a swimming pool (shower baths, gallery with cabins, director’s house) with a total surface area of approximately 4,300 m². The swimming pool opened in 1904. A series of modifications and adaptations have taken place since then, the main renovation campaigns being in 1906, 1945, 1960 and 1998.

The structure of the building consists mainly of the former director’s house at the entrance and the swimming hall. Cast iron pillars support the swimming pool hall, which is covered by a Polonceau-type steel structure. The other materials of the supporting structure are reinforced concrete and masonry.

The major stability problems of the Ixelles municipal swimming pool currently identified are the out-of-plumbness of certain walls, the flèche of the beaches, the fissuration of the walls and slabs and the advanced degradation of the concrete of the filter tanks. After thorough analysis, the causes of these disorders were attributed to poor soil quality, undersized beach slabs and chlorinated water infiltrations causing reinforcement corrosion and concrete degradation.

The restoration programme plans to treat deterioration at the source to ensure the building’s long-term viability.

The project therefore focuses on the complete stabilisation of the building through underpinning on piles, the demolition and reconstruction of the beaches, the stabilisation and renovation of the swimming pool and the filter tanks, also on piles.

In addition, a new volume has been created at the entrance to accommodate additional cabins and the circulation within the building has also been reviewed.

Photos © Philippe Piraux / Worksite photos © greisch