Heartbeat

Swimming pool and more

The Ilirija Sport City Centre in Ljubljana (Športni Center Ilirija), inau­gu­rated in spring 2025, is a public sports and infra­struc­ture project purpo­sefully located in an urban context. The new complex replaces an aging outdoor pool dating back to 1929.

At the heart of the faci­lity is a 50-metre Olympic-stan­dard swim­ming pool. Surroun­ding it are multiple sports halls, a café, a museum, event spaces, and public open areas—all situated beneath a striking 12,000 m² canopy that defines the urban character of the site. The ambi­tious usage concept allows not only for regular sports opera­tions, but also for cultural and social events. The goal is long-term acti­va­tion and econo­mic­ally sustainable use—even beyond the tradi­tional context of sport.

The decision to place the faci­lity in the city centre and to recon­nect it with Tivoli Park has created new links for pede­strians and cyclists, rein­for­cing the inte­gra­tion of sport into ever­yday urban life. And it proved to be abso­lutely the right move.

The project was desi­gned by Lorenz Ateliers, with the pools deli­vered by Myrtha Pools.

History and society

The history of the Ilirija Sport City Centre dates back to the late 1920s, when Slove­nian archi­tect and sports pioneer Stanko Bloudek desi­gned the original Ilirija outdoor pool with a 25-metre pool. The entrance buil­ding from 1929 is now a listed historic struc­ture. It was carefully restored and inte­grated into the new concept—as a café, confe­rence area, and museum dedi­cated to Slovenia’s sporting heri­tage.

Shortly after Slovenia gained inde­pen­dence, the young capital Ljubljana decided to build a new Olympic swim­ming centre with supporting infra­struc­ture in the city centre. Choo­sing not to relo­cate the large-scale project to the outskirts, but instead to develop it further at the historic site, was both a bold urban plan­ning move and a forward-looking social state­ment. It honours sports as a public good while redu­cing the mobi­lity foot­print of such a faci­lity.

Another key aspect of the design was recon­nec­ting the site to neigh­bou­ring Tivoli Park by resto­ring the histo­ri­cally signi­fi­cant Latterman Avenue as a pede­strian and cycling route. Comple­men­ting this is the public plaza beneath the centre’s signa­ture curved roof—a connec­tive space that links the city centre to the park. It trans­forms the sports complex into an open, multi­func­tional place that brings toge­ther sport, culture, educa­tion, and ever­yday use.

Swimming at the centre

At the heart of the Ilirija Sport City Centre lies a state-of-the-art aquatic complex, built using Myrtha Pools’ inno­va­tive modular stain­less steel system. The hall features a 50-metre Olympic pool with a movable bulk­head, a 25-metre trai­ning pool, and the latest Myrtha Track Start blocks desi­gned for compe­ti­tion use.

Thanks to Myrtha’s advanced stain­less steel system, the pools meet the highest stan­dards for both trai­ning and inter­na­tional compe­ti­tion. The result: precision, dura­bi­lity, and ecolo­gical efficiency—all in a spec­tator-friendly envi­ron­ment.

The stain­less steel elements are corro­sion-resistant, low-main­ten­ance, and allow for the extre­mely precise fabri­ca­tion required for inter­na­tional compe­ti­tion. At the same time, the modular cons­truc­tion enables rapid instal­la­tion and flexible adapt­a­tion to future usage needs.

The faci­lity meets the stan­dards of the inter­na­tional swim­ming fede­ra­tion World Aqua­tics (form­erly FINA) and offers seating for around 1,500 spectators—an ideal setting for national and inter­na­tional events. At the same time, it remains open to school groups, clubs, recrea­tional users, and the broader sporting community—making it an inclu­sive infra­struc­ture for all.

Roof and energy

The swim­ming pool, sports halls, circu­la­tion areas, and func­tional zones of the Ilirija Sport City Centre are all housed beneath a swee­ping, large-scale roof. This steel struc­ture spans 54 metres and covers around 12,000 m², giving the buil­ding ensemble a strong visual iden­tity and defi­ning it as a cohe­sive archi­tec­tural volume within the urban land­scape.

But the roof does far more than shape the struc­ture visually: 4,000 m² of photo­vol­taic panels are installed on its surface, gene­ra­ting enough energy to cover the entire power demand of the centre. This rene­wable energy system is comple­mented by geothermal instal­la­tions and effi­cient heat pump technology—making Ilirija Sport City Centre one of the first zero-energy sports faci­li­ties in Europe.

Envi­ron­mental perfor­mance was also a top prio­rity in terms of sports infra­struc­ture: Myrtha Pools’ modular stain­less steel system gene­rates up to 50% fewer CO₂ emis­sions than conven­tional concrete basins during produc­tion. This tech­nical solu­tion fits seam­lessly into the project’s holi­stic sustaina­bi­lity approach.

City and heart

The Ilirija Sport City Centre is far more than a swim­ming faci­lity or a sports complex. It sees itself as a public space with multiple functions—open to elite and recrea­tional sports, educa­tion, culture, and social exch­ange. As an inte­gral part of urban life in Ljubljana, it brings toge­ther layers of use that are often spati­ally sepa­rated else­where.

The faci­lity is desi­gned for school sports as well as univer­sity programmes, club acti­vi­ties, and compe­ti­tive events. At the same time, it offers space for cultural happe­nings: even the swim­ming hall can be tempo­r­a­rily trans­formed into a concert or event venue—a move that makes sense not only in terms of opera­tional effi­ci­ency, but also from an urba­ni­stic perspec­tive.

The Ilirija Sport City Centre is a vibrant, inclu­sive space at the heart of the city. And that’s exactly where sports belongs.