Last month marked the official opening of the UK’s first public natural swimming pond at King’s Cross in London.
The 10 x 40m pool sits in the heart of the King’s Cross development site and can accommodate up to 169 bathers.
Kingcombe Aquacare has been working on the construction of the swimming pond in conjunction with designers BIOTOP, the King’s Cross Development Partnership and contractors Carillion since November 2014.
As with all BIOTOP’s natural pool designs, the pond is completely chemical-free and the water is purified by a specially designed 180m2 planted regeneration zone, supported by BIOTOP’s patented filter and animal-friendly skimmer system.
John Colton of Kingcombe Aquacare said: “The King’s Cross Pond project has gone extremely well. The plants will take time to establish fully but we hope by mid-summer swimmers will be able to enjoy the array of beautiful plants and also the variety of insects and wildlife that the planted zone will attract.
“We hope this high profile site at King’s Cross will demonstrate the many benefits of natural swimming ponds to a wider audience and we hope this is the first of many public natural swimming ponds to develop across the UK.”
Although natural swimming pools and ponds have been built in the UK since around 2008 they have so far only been designed for private homes or hotels. The King’s Cross natural swimming pool will be the first to be open for the public and has been specifically designed to be able to accommodate larger numbers of daily swimmers.
