Australia has an $8 billion public pool problem. Is this the solution?

About 40 per cent of Australia’s ageing public swimming pools will be obsolete by 2030; a looming crisis compounded by climate change, increased demand and a rising drowning rate.

The cost to replace them? Eight billion dollars, including $2.7 billion in NSW and $3 billion in Victoria – and that doesn’t include the cost of building entirely new pools as the population grows.

“That’s scary,” Royal Life Saving NSW chief Michael Ilinsky told a meeting at NSW Parliament House on Friday, where he pitched modular prefabricated pools as a potential solution to cut costs.

It could cost as much as $8 billion to upgrade Australia’s ageing public pools.Credit: Janie Barrett

Inspired by the NSW government’s pattern book of designs to fast-track low to medium density housing, the 130-year-old organisation has worked with global architects Cox Architecture on a pattern book of modular designs called the Future of Swimming Pools.

The average 25-metre pool with change sheds costs about $10 million. A report on aquatic infrastructure by Royal Life Saving Australia found that price was beyond the reach of a third of local governments, particularly those in less affluent areas where new facilities were needed most. The average public pool is nearly 60 years old, and many facilities are energy-inefficient, costly to maintain, or no longer meet community needs.

Cox Architecture director Alastair Richardson said, in contrast, a modular pool, developed offsite, could be delivered in about eight months and would cost about $5.5 million.

Councils would be able to choose the length of pool (50 or 25 metres), the number of lanes (five to eight), pool depth (suitable for learn to swim, competition or recreation), and the types of on-site amenities, such as cafes, gyms and offices.

The modular design meant councils could add elements later to suit their needs and budgets. In future, a council could even put a roof over its pool, for instance.

Richardson said the practice had successfully used modular construction for student housing and build-to-rent projects in Sydney of up to 40 storeys.

“Modularisation allowed us to do multiples, which brings the cost down,” he said. “It allows us to create solutions that can be transported around the country. So we’re not necessarily dependent on local trades … So it really creates a whole bunch of opportunities.

“We’re finding that the unit cost of modular housing is achieving savings of between 10 per cent to 30 per cent, and it gets higher and higher as we go beyond the pilot process.”

An artist’s impression of an aquatic centre designed using a pattern book approach. Credit: Cox Architecture

Across Australia, prefabricated and modular pools have been used in remote communities and on other sites, but they are yet to be rolled out at a larger scale.

Roy Butler, the member for NSW’s largest electorate, Barwon in the state’s north-west, said all five councils in Barwon had pools. Many, like Walgett’s, needed replacing, but councils could only afford to patch them up.

Getting tradies in the far west was also difficult. “Having it off site and brought in ... makes this faster, easier and cheaper as well,” Butler said.

Cox Architecture, with Royal Life Saving NSW, is proposing a pattern book of pools for use by local governments to reduce costs and increase speed of delivery. Credit: Cox Architecture 

Ilinsky said, in the lead-up to the state election, Royal Life Saving NSW would seek state government support for a trial of the modular plan for pool construction.

“We are imagining a future where aquatic facilities can be delivered faster, smarter and more affordably than ever before – without sacrificing quality, safety or community value,” he said.

RJ Houston, Royal Life Saving Australia’s national general manager for capability and industry, said the cycle of disadvantage was entrenched when it came to pool access.

The councils that most needed new facilities often didn’t have funds even to develop a plan, he said.

“All the grants are tied to shovel-ready projects, those in which council has a feasibility and master plan, that have already detailed designs and are just waiting for funding,” Houston said. He advocates funding initial planning grants, followed by construction grants.

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