Brisbane's 'sophisticated' Centenary Pool

In rainy Brisbane over Christmas, we dropped into the Centenary Aquatic Centre on Gregory Terrace in inner city Spring Hill.  Designed by James Birrell, Brisbane City Council's principal architect from 1955 to 1961, this complex was considered highly innovative and sophisticated in its design when it opened in 1959.

In particular its elevated modular restaurant which overlooks the complex's 50-metre pool, diving pool with diving tower and wading pool, was singled out as cutting edge and very modern.  Now a gym rather than a restaurant the space-age structure reminds me of The Jetsons' skypad apartment from the 1960s cartoon. 

While most public pools being constructed across Australia in the late 50s and 60s tended to have an "almost militaristic insistence on order and regularity", James Birrell arranged the Centenary Centre's three pools in a random manner so that a "festive air is developed". 

Influenced by modern artists such as Hans Arp and South American architect Oscar Niemeyer, Birrell wanted the Centenary Pool to be a work of art rather than a purely functionalist structure. In 1960 a Melbourne art and architecture magazine selected it as one of the top ten buildings in Australia. Nearly 50 years later it was featured in the Powerhouse Museum's exhibition, Modern Times: the untold story of modernism in Australia.

Built to commemorate Brisbane and Queensland's 1959 centenary celebrations, it was the city's principal aquatic centre until the Sleeman Sports Complex at Chandler opened in 1980.

While today the centre is looking a bit tired and more retro than sophisticated, it is still a nice place to take a dip with well-ordered lap swimming, clean change-rooms and friendly, welcoming staff.

Spring Hill Baths: a jewel of a pool

If Spring Hill Baths in inner city Brisbane was a swimmer it would be a slow, mellow breaststroker wearing a floral cap. Opened on 9 December 1886, it is Brisbane's first in-ground public baths. It also lays claim to being the oldest indoor pool in the Southern Hemisphere.

People who swim at this grand old lady of Australian pools are not in a hurry. It's a place to soak up the atmosphere and journey back to a bygone era of quirky signs and colourful change cubicles. The water in the 23-metre pool is solar heated to 27-30 degrees C. When I swam up and down I felt like I was cocooned in an exotic cave or in a pool on an ageing ocean liner.

While the idea of wearing goggles and a cap seemed a bit serious for this chilled-out space, in its early days Spring Hill Baths was the venue for Queensland's major swimming competitions, as well as many school carnivals. In 1927 it was one of the first pools in Australia to allow mixed bathing and it remains one of the oldest pools still in use. It is definitely well-preserved and restored. The only major change in recent years is that a large central portion of the roof is now open to the sky.

The pool was featured in the 2003 film Swimming Upstream, which was based on the life of the 1950s Brisbane swimming champion, Tony Fingleton and his family. For the Fingleton kids, Spring Hill Baths was a great escape and refuge from their difficult home life. As Tony Fingleton said: "Summers in Australia in the 1950s were long and hot, like being locked in a sweat box day after day. Water changed that; it kept you alive and safe, at least for a little while."

The day I dipped into the Spring Hill Baths I met a women who'd spent a "long, hard day at the hospital" waiting for her husband to come out of surgery. On her first visit to Spring Hill Baths, she came to the pool to unwind. "It's like a jewel," she said. "Every pool has its own character. This one is a beauty!"