Medicine Hat Leisure Complex
Medicine Hat, Alberta

The Medicine Hat Family Leisure Centre provides an opportunity for swimming, skating, and outdoor sports in one of the most progressive recreational facilities in the province of Alberta. Vic Davies Architect Ltd. provided specialist pool consultancy services for this “oasis in the prairies.”

The competition pool with its two bulkheads and moveable pool floor allow for endless variations in the pool set up and use. From 50m and 25m competition and practice using the Olympic style starting platforms and touch pads, to synchronized swimming, or a multi-purpose use set up (shallow depth lessons, lap swimming, and diving… all at once). This flexibility ensures maximum use of the pool tank.

The 340 square metre leisure pool and the separate 27 square metre tots’ pool provide unbounded play possibilities. Both pools have a warmer more “tropical” water temperature than the lap pool (approximately 30°C). The freeform shape of the pool offers out-of-the-way corners for playing and relaxing, while the zero depth beach entry, with its softly lapping waves, affords easy access.
The play value and therapeutic benefits of the moving water soon become evident to those using the leisure pool. Whether being massaged by one of the water sprays or playfully splashing a friend, walking upriver in the lazy river or drifting gently down stream, the pool offers something for swimmers of all ages and abilities.

Reflecting the unique landscape of Southern Alberta, soaring pelicans, cottonwood trees, and a rattlesnake waterslide, the themed décor transforms the aquatic centre into a wilderness adventure. The structural columns between the leisure and competition pool have been metamorphosed into full size cottonwood trees, while other older gnarled cottonwood “stumps” are strategically located around the pool. Panoramic murals of prairie wheat fields, river banks, and hoodoos offer endless horizons for bathers. The décor provides a naturalistic, educational, and legendary look at the area.