David Theile
Olympic Swimming Pool
The David Theile Olympic Swimming Pool was designed to lift services above the flood line and separate the construction of steel framing from masonry walls. These strategies allowed the project to be built expeditiously, deliver the services lost to flood quickly, and provide maximum resilience for future flood events. 
Elevating the soffit above the change room walls allows the ceiling to carry the pool’s reflection and the sound of water out into, the public realm. Looking up at a large floating plane filled with the dappled light, is akin to being under water.
Public pools require large amounts of air movement to ensure damp and mould do not take hold. By separating the pool’s roof from its walls, the pragmatic requirement to provide suitable ventilation, maintain privacy, and protect inhabitants from direct breezes, all occur concurrently.
 
Info
Client:
The University of Queensland
Location:
Land of Turrbal and Jagera peoples
St Lucia
Size:
1600 m²
Status:
completed
Typology:
Public, Sports, Education
Quotes
The University of Queensland Aquatic Centre and David Theile Olympic Pool has an intense poetic impact on me, perhaps because I too had a childhood in which swimming loomed large. All m3architecture projects have this intensity, often delivered through a surprising twist.
Van Schaik, Leon. Practical Poetics in Architecture pp 197. (2015)
A project noteworthy for its symbolism and reality of flood recovery following the 2011 devastation to Brisbane. Cleverly delineating the level of the flood, the new roofed pavilions delightfully reflect passing external activities to the pool space and vice versa.
RAIA Queensland State Jury awards citation. (2012)
Cited
Awards:

2012 AIA Queensland Architecture Awards: State Commendation for Public Architecture: David Theile Olympic Swimming Pool, The University of Queensland

2012 AIA Queensland Architecture Awards: Regional (Brisbane) Commendation for Public Architecture: David Theile Olympic Swimming Pool, The University of Queensland

Publications:

2016 The David Theile Olympic Swimming Pool in, “The Pool.” Venice Architecture Exhibition book, Australian Pavilion 2016. The Australian Institute of Architects. pp163.

2015 The David Theile Olympic Swimming Pool, The Yeerongpilly (Rod Laver) Footbridge, and The Tree of Knowledge in, Practical Poetics in Architecture. Author: Leon van Schaik. Publisher John Wiley and Sons Ltd.  pp 194 – 201.

Exhibitions:

2016 Venice Architecture Biennale, Australian Pavilion. Project, UQ David Theile Olympic Swimming Pool.

The grassy banks established as a result of the pools original construction, the site’s legacy planting, and the new building’s ‘garden wall’, create a hidden oasis.
Photography by Jon Linkins