Location

The new Steger­matt leisure pool is situated in the Offen­burg ‘Bürger­park’ and has a lot on offer.  It is now a combi­na­tion of an open air and indoor pool complex with a sepa­rate well­ness and sauna area. In the summer of 2017 this new leisure centre complex replaced the sepa­rate indoor and outdoor pools which had been on this property since 1937.  The ‘Bürger­park’ is situated close to Offenburg’s inner city. The Steger­matt leisure pool is in the western part of the expan­sive park area and creates a bridge between city and park. The two storey pool entrance creates a widely visible land­mark for any visi­tors arri­ving through the park. Old trees which have been preserved help blend the pool buil­ding with the natural land­scape of the park. On the south side the leisure complex is bordered with a train­line.

Swimming area

The swim­ming area of Steger­matt leisure pool is divided into three diffe­rent zones for leisure swim­ming, trai­ning and water based fitness classes.  The leisure zone offers a multi-use pool with a river rapids channel, a children’s area and a rubber ring slide, provi­ding fun for the whole family.  In the trai­ning zone there is a 25‑m pool, a lear­ning pool and a diving pool with two sized diving boards (3m and 5m) with lots of space for ambi­tious water sports enthu­si­asts. The pool for water based fitness classes is found between the leisure and trai­ning swim­ming pools. Trans­pa­rent glass panels offer an un-inter­rupted view of the parallel ongoing acti­vi­ties and offer a balanced view of the swim­ming areas. The pool for water based fitness classes features an adjus­table floor provi­ding varying water depths, giving great flexi­bi­lity to the needs of the classes being held here. Curr­ently the expan­sive program at the Steger­matt leisure centre offers the follo­wing classes; Aqua cycling, Power Cycling, Abdo­minal Trai­ning, Ai Chi and Aqua Surprise.  The swim­ming pools have an eye catching curved wood lami­nate ceiling, which has a smooth wave effect casting the eye towards the land­scape outside, giving the buil­ding a touch of glamour and a gene­rous open air atmo­sphere.

Sauna

The sauna area of Steger­matt leisure pool sits in its own wing of the buil­ding in the south part of the leisure complex. This wing gene­rously opens up to the south and west and is bordered by the train­line. The well­ness program includes a steam room, saunas and saline inha­la­tion, a cold water area with expe­ri­ence showers and plunge pool, as well as a sepa­rate quiet zone.  A further high­light of the well­ness zone is an outdoor sauna area with a large sauna garden.  This offers sauna visi­tors a special retreat area set in its own buil­ding and over­loo­king the beau­tiful park land­scape.

 Facades and conclusion

A calm indoor atmo­sphere in harmony with the outside land­scape is created by exten­sive glass façade panels, exposed concrete, wood, steel, discreet tiles and a mini­ma­li­stic colour scheme. The surroun­ding natural land­scape is also the guiding force in the design of the outside areas of the outdoor leisure area; white metal clad­ding, celling parts in white varnished wood, white support beams and a white outside slide with a combi­na­tion of a glass fron­tage and wood cladded facades, which all lead to a restrained and light feel despite the impres­sive volume of levels and design features.

The Steger­matt leisure pool offers an exten­sive program for all possible users, is excep­tio­nally well orga­nised and every small detail has been considered with safety and its useful­ness in mind. The leisure centre sits beau­tifully in its surroun­ding land­scape. To offer more is almost impos­sible.