Article source: Francisco Mangado

To provide the small rural sites of the area with sports facilities, the Provincial Government ofLa Coruñalaunched a series of architecture competitions, by which swimming pools and gymnasiums have been built in consecutive phases starting from a series of prototypes that each City Council could choose. Thought out as a generic solution for an area with no distinct features, the prototype selected by the municipalities of Oleiros, Melide, Fene and Pobra do Caramiñal indirectly points at the rain as the common aspect of the Galician landscape. A convex roof shaped as a large gutter is thereby proposed as the identifying feature of the project which, on the other hand, is marked by its compactness and capacity to adjust to different urban characteristics.

Image Courtesy © César San Millán

• Architects: Francisco Mangado
• Project: PROTOTYPE FOR INDOOR SWIMMING POOLS
• Location: LA CORUÑA, Spain
• Photography: Roland Halbe, César San Millán
• Total area: 2.100 m2 (cada piscina).
• Final cost: 1.081.821,00 € (each swimming pool)
• Date of project: Oleiros y Fene 1998, Melide 1999, Pobra do Caramiñal 2002
• Date of construction: Oleiros, 2001., Fene 2002., Melide 2002., Pobra do Caramiñal. En construcción.
• Client: Excma. Diputación de La Coruña., Servicio de Arquitectura (Fernando Cebrián – Arquitecto).
• Prizes: Prix IberFAD 2002: Finalist, Honorable Mention Prizes Construmat 2003.