New shine for the wave pool at Spreewaldplatz

32 years of swimming pool operation have left their mark on the wave pool on Spreewaldplatz, which is why the popular family leisure pool (gross floor area 9,000 square metres) in Berlin-Kreuzberg is now being completely renovated and thus upgraded to the latest technical standards. The planning and con­sul­ting company CANZLER was commissioned with the planning of the technical building equipment and supports the Berliner Bäder Betriebe during the construction phase in object supervision. In terms of plant engineering, modern room air conditioning and effective water treatment are to be implemented and an existing combined heat and power unit (CHP) is to be integrated.

Berlin's only wave pool will be completely renovated and made much more attractive: The wave pool will not only be overhauled, but will also receive a large indoor slide. In addition to new changing areas with a transgender area, Bäder Betriebe Berlin is investing in the modernisation of the sauna area. The Berlin office of CANZLER is responsible for the planning of the technical building equipment, which supports the client in the further planning and during the construction phase in the object supervision. Afterwards, a revitalised adventure pool will present itself to its guests, some of whom have been here for many years, in the middle of the multicultural scene quarter.

 "During the planning phase the quality level of the new facilities is the most important aspect in order to meet the current standards and guidelines for swimming pools", explains Michael Poeck, the responsible project manager of CANZLER. The technology is outdated and has to be operated by hand. With a new and modern building control system the ventilation and air-conditioning systems, the lighting and safety-related systems can later be operated from the monitor via simple control elements. In addition, a two-year-old combined heat and power unit (CHP) is to be integrated into the systems. The engineer of CANZLER describes this as an energetically demanding task. The operation of the swimming pool requires a high heating capacity even in summer, which has to be covered to a large extent by the operation of the BHKW. The additionally generated electricity is either consumed in the own consumption or, in case of surplus, fed into the grid of the power supplier and remunerated. At this moment the swimming pool at the Spreewaldplatz becomes an electricity producer. "For many of the open-air and indoor swimming pools built in the 1970s and 1980s, the main priority is to reduce the high heating energy consumption and to equip the pools with modern, efficient technology that is up-to-date and low in emissions," says Poeck.

Effective water treatment ensures standard of hygiene

More than 200,000 visitors of different nations and cultures visit the spa at Görlitz Park every year. The new technology must meet the demands of the multicultural bathers. For example, the bathing operation requires a particularly effective water treatment. "Swimming is not only allowed in normal swimwear, but also in a burkini, a full-body swimsuit for Muslim women, so the filter systems must be robustly dimensioned and constructed to achieve the desired hygiene standard of the bathing water," says Poeck.

The swimming pool, which opened in 1987, is considered a "work of art in existence" due to its visible supporting structure and a UFO that landed in the sand hill. As a result, the structural elements are to be restored and partly replaced true to the original. All modernization measures are thus subject to a high design standard, which the AHM Archi­tekten Berlin, responsible for the new building, will transform over the coming decades in consultation with the architect of the existing building, Mr. Christoph Langhof.