Simple and elegant

Leip­zig’s new high­light for swim­ming and archi­tec­ture. Modular exposed concrete meets maximum sustaina­bi­lity. The new sports pool at Rabet brings a breath of fresh air to the east of the city.

Leipzig has had a wonderful new infra­struc­ture since late summer 2025: the sports pool at Rabet. The modular new buil­ding, desi­gned by Gerkan, Marg and Part­ners (gmp), was built to passive house stan­dards. It provides urgently needed water areas for schools, clubs and popular sports and inte­grates perfectly into the city­scape.

The baths are located on the centrally located Otto-Runki-Platz and connect the urban traffic area with the adja­cent and epony­mous Rabet district park. The cubic struc­ture with its recesses closes off the exis­ting peri­meter block to the north and conti­nues the urban struc­ture.

A green fore­court opens up to the south-east, inte­gra­ting parts of the exis­ting trees and merging into the park. This creates a new focal point in the neigh­bor­hood.

The cons­truc­tion of the sports pool is based on a modular design. Exposed concrete elements with inte­grated insu­la­tion were prefa­bri­cated in the factory and assem­bled on site.

This effi­cient method helped to mini­mize noise and emis­sions during the cons­truc­tion phase and made the struc­tured buil­ding possible.

The façade combines light-colored exposed concrete with a glass base. The all-round glazing lets daylight into the inte­rior, allows views in and out and connects the buil­ding with the urban context.

Sustaina­bi­lity was a key aspect of the plan­ning. The Rabet sports pool was built to passive house stan­dards and has an exten­si­vely greened reten­tion roof with an insect meadow. This compen­sates for lost green areas, promotes natural seepage and releases rain­water with a time delay.

Solar thermal and photo­vol­taic systems as well as a water treat­ment system for reusing the pool water are also inte­grated. Under­ground infil­tra­tion tren­ches store rain­water on site and support the city’s climate targets and water-sensi­tive urban deve­lo­p­ment.

The city and Leip­zig’s sports pools have realized this project with an invest­ment of around 20 million euros. The sports pool at Rabet comple­ments Leip­zig’s swim­ming infra­struc­ture and reli­eves the pres­sure on exis­ting pools. It creates important water areas for swim­ming trai­ning and a new social meeting place.

In addi­tion to the water areas, it offers 100 spec­tator seats for compe­ti­tions, faci­li­ties for the disabled inclu­ding a pool lift and chan­ging wheel­chairs, an athle­tics room and meeting rooms for clubs.

Versa­tile and successful.

gmp – Archi­tects von Gerkan Marg and Part­ners

Mein­hard von Gerkan, Stephan Schütz,Tobias Keyl, Dinah Borjans, David Ferreiro Centeno, Bojan Kocevski, Thilo Zehme, Zeng Yahan, Zhang Tianshuo, Miryam Aykurt, Eva Chan, Chris­tian Dorn­dorf, Regina Geier, Moritz Grab­mayr, Jessica Neumann, Martin Muc, Abdur­rahim Sariy­ildiz, Viktoria Schock, Michael Scholz, Philip Stillke, Zhang Tianshuo