Southland Aquatic Centre Splash Palace
Invercargill, South Island, New Zealand

The building of the Southland Aquatic Centre is the result of nine years of planning. The City Council actively sought public input into its decision making. The public were invited to comment on two reports, and a total of 778 written submissions were received.

It was decided that the community would be best served by a completely new facility, centrally located and with increased water space, adequate to serve the needs of Invercargill and the surrounding area. Invercargill's climate meant an outdoor pool was not an option.

Vic Davies Architect Ltd. was hired as pool consultant to McCulloch Architect Ltd., a local Invercargill consultant.

The complex is the first in New Zealand to have both a 50 metre competition pool and separate leisure pool, with waves, all indoors. The centre is truly multi-purpose, catering to both the recreational and sport swimmer.

One of the favorite attractions at any aquatic facility is a waterslide. The Splash Palace slide loops outside the building, providing an exciting ride while limiting the impact of the slide structure on the interior space. To increase safety the slide was designed not to enter the pool directly, but come to a finish in a shutdown lane on the pool deck, located next to the stairs leading back up to the start of the ride.

The leisure pool incorporates many of the most popular water play features and the freeform shape offers an appealing variety of swim and play spaces. The 50 metre pool provides for 1, 3 and 5 metre diving, and the movable bulkhead allows for multiple lane swimming setups as well as programmable multipurpose use of the pool. This new complex will enable the Southland Regional Association of the New Zealand Swimming Federation to once again host National Championships for various disciplines of swimming and aquatic sports.