Harold Holt Memorial Swimming Centre, Brutalist swimming center in Glen Iris, Australia.
The Harold Holt Memorial Swimming Centre is a public pool complex on the corner of High Street and Edgar Street in Glen Iris, Melbourne. Its Brutalist buildings by Kevin Borland and Daryl Jackson combine tall glass panels in grey concrete framing with solid blocky masonry and a stepped, staircase-like concrete form. The site holds five pools, including a 49 by 14 metre outdoor main pool and an indoor 25 metre pool behind a large glass wall.
The complex was built in 1969 and replaced the municipal baths from 1927 at the same location. The name honors Prime Minister Harold Holt, who vanished while swimming in the ocean shortly before the opening.
The building follows brutalist design principles with raw surfaces and visible structural elements made of concrete and glass. Large windows bring in daylight and the architecture reflects the style common in public buildings from the late 1960s in Victoria.
The facility opens in the early morning hours and closes in the evening, offering swim lessons and fitness programs. Different pools and areas are designated for different types of swimming activities.
The centre's name is cited as a "perhaps unintentional" example of Australian black humour, since Harold Holt disappeared while swimming and the pool was named for him. The outdoor 50m pool was the first heated pool in Victoria for year-round swimming and the first pool in Australia designed to metric standards.
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