Of Soil and Water: The King's Cross Pond Club by Ooze Architects and artist Marjetica Potrč
Natural, Chemical-Free Bathing Pond in Central London
Swimmers now have the opportunity to get back to nature, in the urban setting of London’s King’s Cross, in the UK’s first ever public swimming pond, opened to visitors from 22 May, as part of an innovative experiential art project created by Ooze Architects and artist Marjetica Potrč. The installation piece entitled ‘Of Soil and Water': King’s Cross Pond Club is a natural, chemical-free bathing pond open to swimmers and visitors at the King’s Cross site.
Measuring approximately 10m wide by 40m long, the central swimming pond is purified through a natural closed-loop process, using wetland and submerged water plants to filter and sustain clean and clear water. The pond, which due to be in place for up to two years, is surrounded by both hard and soft landscaping, including pioneer plants, wild flowers grasses, and bushes so that the environment evolves as the seasons change. The site, engineered and built by Europe’s leading natural pool designers BIOTOP and its UK partner, Kingcombe Aquacare Ltd, will operate on a limited daily ticket basis, and will be run by experienced sport and leisure management charity Fusion Lifestyle.
Eva Pfannes of Ooze Architects said:
The project is an attempt to capture the dynamicity conveyed by the changes within the area, a moment in time where new possibilities and possible futures arise. In this particular project, the juxtaposition of something so natural in an urban environment was a very important idea for us. It is meant to look unpolished and to evolve as the seasons change.
The artist Marjetica Potrč said of the work:
We have to re-think how we live with the city and with nature. Here, we are collaborating with nature and the artwork encourages the viewer to participate in that experience. Water is a source of life but it is also a metaphor for regeneration. We want to understand our influence upon nature but also our balance with nature.
