Designed by the architect Alexander Buchanan Campbell, the pool’s construction was started in 1964 (the year of the Tokyo Olympics) and would eventually become the first Olympic-sized swimming pool to be built in Scotland. Completed 1968.
Located in a prominent position in the Town Centre Park on the crest of Brouster Hill, the swimming pool is a focal point for East Kilbride. It is named after Sir Patrick J Dollan, the first Chairman of the East Kilbride Development Corporation.
“Costing the Town Council £600,000, it was built by general contractors Wight Construction Limited with consulting engineers T Harley Haddow & Partners. It consists principally of pre-stressed concrete and gives visitors the impression of a marquee, as the billowing vaulted 324ft parabolic arched roof appears to be held down by pairs of ‘V’ shaped-struts that crash to the ground at a 30° angle. Buchanan Campbell originally considered using laminated timber for the roof because it would have aided the reduction of condensation, but transportation proved difficult and so the practical and expressionistic advantages of reinforced concrete won the day. The swimming pool is composed of four elliptical shell structures and fan five longitudinal pre-stressed concrete ribs. Its main longitudinal arch thrust is held by six pre-stressed concrete ties, which are fixed into the abutment foundations.”
“The diving boards were removed when the building underwent additions and alterations in the mid 1990s at a cost of £4.5m. In 1994, the Newcastle-based firm Faulkner Browns finalised the shortening of the pool by adding a hinged plastic boom to the width so that it met the Olympic dimensions of 50m by 12m. They also added a floating floor so that the depth could be changed according to need. The original teaching pool now functions as a toddlers’ pool and flumes have been installed in the North West corner. In response to changing social attitudes, a unisex ‘changing village’ at the pool level replaced the original separate male and female changing accommodation to provide greater flexibility for families.”
“Originally, air was heated in the basement by coal boilers that also heated the adjacent youth centre (which was also designed by Buchanan Campbell in 1966-70), it was then supplied to, and extracted from, the main pool hall by a series of ducts built into the ceiling void.”
“A glazed conservatory was installed beneath the concrete buttresses with maple-veneered screens and counters to replace the original exposed concrete reception desk in the entrance area. A cantilevered glass and steel canopy was also added, acting as a foil to the powerful sweep of the monumental concrete struts, marking the entrance, and also deterring vandals from climbing up onto the roof.”
Until an act of vandalism there was a window in reception area allowing underwater view into the main pool.
[Twentieth Century Society]