In a paradoxical age of hyper-connectivity and isolation, Waiting for the Swimming Pool is a creative placemaking proposal that highlights the importance of designing communal spaces. This temporary creative placemaking project will bring life and activity to the newly developed Green Square precinct whilst the Gunyama Park Aquatic & Recreation Centre is being built.
The project takes its inspiration from cities around the world using public saunas as ways of reinvigorating under-utilised or unactivated areas. In Gothenburg, for instance, a sauna was recently built in the disused container port as an agent to seed the area’s regeneration into a new urban quarter. In Finland, the City of Helsinki commissioned Löyly, a large-scale public sauna that sought to regenerate a former industrial zone on its seafront. The sauna aims to combat rising levels of anxiety and loneliness in urban environments. It advocates for the prioritisation of better public spaces in Sydney that are affordable, inclusive and contribute to residents’ quality of life.
The project was initiated by Studio Rain and is sponsored by 107 Projects and will be built outside City People’s home at the Joynton Ave Creative Centre, a newly completed adaptive reuse project by Peter Stutchbury. City People will curate a public program of arts and wellness activities at the sauna and there is hope that the structure will eventually find a permanent, or semi-permanent space within the community.
Shortlisted for the My Community Project grant scheme through the NSW government, the project is part of a public vote that engages members of the local electorate to have their say in what they want to see improved or introduced in their community. If you live in the Heffron electorate of NSW and want to see this project brought to life, please follow this link to vote.
But hurry: Voting closes on Aug 15.