More Water

With the expan­sion of the Groß­feld­sied­lung multi-purpose pool, the City of Vienna is imple­men­ting a key compo­nent of its 2030 Swim­ming Pool Stra­tegy. The goal of the program is to expand the swim­ming infra­struc­ture of a growing metro­polis, create more capa­city for school and club sports, and at the same time moder­nize exis­ting faci­li­ties in a sustainable manner. The new indoor trai­ning pool in Vienna’s 21st district serves as a prime example of how func­tional requi­re­ments, archi­tec­tural quality, and resource-effi­cient cons­truc­tion can be combined.

Instead of cons­truc­ting a stan­da­lone buil­ding, the Vienna-based firm illiz archi­tektur desi­gned a compact, three-story exten­sion that is being built on an exis­ting paved parking lot and is connected to the exis­ting buil­ding via two canti­le­vered bridges. These bridges serve a purpose far beyond mere access: they link the old and new buil­dings into a cohe­sive ensemble, sepa­rate visitor flows, and provide a barrier-free connec­tion between the new foyer and the exis­ting ticket office area.

A land­scaped alleyway is being created between the two buil­ding struc­tures, conso­li­da­ting the paths to the indoor and outdoor pools and intui­tively guiding visi­tors to the new main entrance. At the same time, the bridges create intri­guing visual connec­tions between the diffe­rent levels and turn the walk through the buil­ding into a spatial expe­ri­ence.

Glass facade

A spacious glass facade makes a striking first impres­sion. Behind it lies a light-filled, three-story foyer, whose sculp­tural stair­case imme­dia­tely draws the eye to the pool level on the upper floor. From here, visi­tors can explore the entire faci­lity with its various func­tional areas.

Lobbies, waiting areas, bridges, and swim­ming pools are visually inter­con­nected, provi­ding clear wayfin­ding.

Basin

The center­piece of the new buil­ding is a 25 x 12.5‑meter trai­ning pool, which is prima­rily intended for school and club sports. With this addi­tional pool space, Vienna is respon­ding to the growing demand for swim­ming instruc­tion and trai­ning oppor­tu­ni­ties.

Outside of reserved times, the pool is also open to the public, thereby signi­fi­cantly expan­ding the offe­rings of the exis­ting multi-purpose pool. The new indoor trai­ning pool has been in regular opera­tion since the fall of 2024.

In parallel with the new cons­truc­tion, the exis­ting indoor swim­ming pool was also exten­si­vely moder­nized. A new, higher roof signi­fi­cantly enhances the sense of space in the multi­pur­pose pool. Glare-free natural light reaches the water’s surface through trans­lu­cent skylights on the sides. At the same time, the entrance area, locker rooms, and rest­rooms were moder­nized, enhan­cing both the func­tion­a­lity and design of the entire faci­lity.

The new buil­ding also ties in with the exis­ting struc­ture in terms of design. A widely canti­le­vered wooden roof panel and surroun­ding skylight bands incor­po­rate charac­te­ristic elements of the exis­ting bath­house and reinter­pret them in a contem­po­rary way. Parti­cu­larly striking is the green steel struc­ture in front of the buil­ding, whose clim­bing plants envelop the struc­ture and trans­form the tech­nical buil­ding into a vibrant facade land­scape.

The compre­hen­sive sustaina­bi­lity concept is also reflected in the buil­ding’s tech­nical systems. A photo­vol­taic system on the green roof, energy-effi­cient buil­ding services, and the resource-effi­cient wood cons­truc­tion all help reduce the buil­ding’s envi­ron­mental foot­print.

For this holi­stic approach, the trai­ning swim­ming pool received the klima­aktiv Gold Award, was honored with the wienwood25 – Vienna Timber Cons­truc­tion Award, was nomi­nated for the 2026 Austrian State Prize for Timber Cons­truc­tion, and made it onto the Top 40 short­list for the 2026 EUmies Awards

With a usable area of appro­xi­m­ately 2,110 m² and a gross floor area of 2,550 m², this exem­plary project—demonstrating the careful expan­sion of exis­ting sports and recrea­tional facilities—was completed in just under two years. The Groß­feld­sied­lung indoor trai­ning pool demons­trates how addi­tional water areas can be created without sealing new land or displa­cing exis­ting faci­li­ties.

Instead, the result was a harmo­nious ensemble in which the old and the new are func­tion­ally, spati­ally, and archi­tec­tu­rally integrated—in keeping with the prin­ci­ples of sustainable and future-oriented pool deve­lo­p­ment.