THE CLIFF
BUILDING PROJECT
Indoor public swimming bath in Stevns, Denmark
PHOTOGRAPHS
Tom Jersøe
AREA
2000.0 m²
YEAR
2012
LOCATION
Copenhagen, Denmark
CATEGORY
Swimming Pool
”The Cliff” is an indoor public swimming bath in the Danish region Stevns. The architecture of the building is inspired by the cliffs of Stevns, Northern Europe’s most important geological locality.
It is based on the transition between the landscape and the village, and the building rises steadily and proudly from the landscape in the east towards the buildings in the west.
At the top end of the sloped roof, the white wall abruptly finishes the sculpture, and the furrowed front of the building and the window openings together illustrate how the facade is inspired by the chalk layers of the natural cliffs.
A cut in the facade opens up the building to the landscape and allows the light to flood into it, while the white plaster facade fits the local white washed buildings.
The plan of the building develops from a perpendicular L-shape, where each angle forms two functional cores. The Northern core consists of the changing facilities, swimming pool, the wellness area and the communal room near the foyer.
The Western core is designed for staff functions and is situated near the entrance.
Together these cores form an open angle that embraces the view and creates room for the pools in between.
The hot pool is sheltered by the extension of the area with the changing facilities, to make it easy to shield the pool when needed, in order to avoid noise, bustle and views from the other pools.
Between the two cores, the foyer is formed as a slot through the tall rear of the building.
The sloping roof is constructed to meet the need for various ceiling heights in the different parts of the building, and the rooms are designed to make the best possible use of the square meters available.
