Between Water and Sky
The Role Of The Roof In Swimming Pool Architecture
E. Audere (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
B. Groothuijse – Mentor (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
H. Smidihen – Mentor (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
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Abstract
Swimming pools present a unique architectural condition in which users experience space through movement, immersion, and an upward-oriented field of vision. Despite this, the roof is often treated primarily as a technical necessity rather than as an architectural element capable of shaping spatial experience.
This graduation project explores how the roof can function as the primary organizing element in swimming pool architecture. The project proposes a new public swimming pool in Milan, Italy, that redefines it as an active part of the surrounding urban fabric.
Rather than developing the building from its plan, the design is led by the roof. Its geometry organizes circulation, structures the program, defines spatial hierarchy, controls daylight, and accommodates the environmental systems required for a swimming facility. At the same time, the roof establishes a strong architectural identity, connecting the swimmer's experience with the building's presence in the city.
By positioning the roof as the starting point of the design process, the project demonstrates how a single architectural element can operate at the urban, architectural, experiential, and technical scales simultaneously. The proposal argues for an alternative approach to swimming pool architecture in which the roof becomes not only an enclosure, but the principal organizer of space and user experience.