David Lloyd Leisure Centre, Reading

A unique bathing experience was what designers of David Lloyd Reading wanted to create for their visitors. Architen Landrell proposed the installation of a steel framed roof structure with a double skinned liner that could provide shelter to the open air swimming pool but also be removed when the summer sunshine came out.

Fabric was chosen as the best material for the job to ensure an easy installation and repetitive removal without causing damage to the structure itself. Fabric also offered the opportunity to minimise the supporting steelwork, thus enhancing the open air experience.

As the first in a series of demountable structures for David Lloyd, the roof at Reading was somewhat of a test. The double skinned fabric regions were designed to be quick and economically removed by a small team using no plant quite a challenge for a structure so large. However, the Architen design team accomplished this brief and the client, and visitors to the site, enjoy the shelter, and the sunshine, as they swim.