Grieve Gillett Architects was engaged by the Port Lincoln City Council to deliver the detailed design and

documentation for the Port Lincoln Indoor Aquatic Centre Refurbishment.

The objective of the project is to upgrade the existing Aquatic Centre into a serviceable, value for money and

operationally cost effective centre that is a more attractive, accessible and flexible facility for the community within a strict budgetary requirement. A large proportion of the project budget was allocated for the upgrade of services including pool plants and electrical and mechanical compliance upgrade.

At the outset of the project, we invested time in revisiting and interrogating the sketch design undertaken by another architectural practice to ensure that the scope aligns with council’s vision and ultimately serves the community needs. Our team was able to identify opportunities for the retention of the centres water slide, relocation of the reception to a central space, reducing requirements for wet areas and amenities and inclusion of additional water play elements.

The project was delivered via a managing contractor model, allowing council to ensure opportunities were provided for local contractor participation. The lateral thinking skills applied early on in the design process enabled cost savings, and subsequently the ability to fund below the line optional extras that not only improves the functionality of the centre, but also added significantly to the experience of the users.

Following the successful delivery of the Aquatic Centre Refurbishment, we are currently working with Council to design, document and deliver the expansion of the leisure centre to include a full size indoor multipurpose show court, three squash courts and an external playcourt. We assisted Council with required documentaion for the Grant Funding Application including rendered plans and high-resolution images as well as on-going reporting required to satisfy the requirements of the funding.

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Throughout both stages of the project, we partnered with a local design firm in Port Lincoln, Lowe & Redding, who provided input in the early stages of the design, and oversee the day to day project management during construction phases.