OOPEAA wins invited competition for a new global concept for an all-year-round floating sea pool for the Allas Sea Pool Family

The Allas Sea Pool is a floating sea pool that is operational all year round. It offers an opportunity to enjoy outdoor bathing even in the Nordic winter weather. After the opening of the first Allas Sea Pool in the very heart of Helsinki in May 2016 as a pilot case, the Sea Pool Family is now expanding both nationally in Finlandand internationally around the world. The goal is to offer an experience of the Nordic values of good life by activating people’s relationship to the waterfront and by providing a comfortable and inviting atmosphere.

In order to create a new global concept for the Allas Sea Pool Family, an invited architecture competition was organized in April 2018. The proposal ‘New Nordic Urban’ by OOPEAA was selected as the winning entry. The jury praised the proposal by OOPEAA for its impressive outdoor architecture and for its strong concept. It brings together the Nordic sensibility for the contemplation on nature with a healthy orientation towards physical activity and an urban inclination towards the social aspects of life. It is a celebration of the Nordic values of egalitarian sharing and good life. The ‘New Nordic Urban’ is essentially about bringing together the social sense of the urban (to see and to be seen + to share in the company of others) and a chance to enjoy nature and the element of water (contemplation + physical activity and sports).

The concept builds on the seamless choreography of movement and transition between open spaces and vistas, semi-open spaces with views, and closed spaces joined by pathways of transition connecting different types of spaces together. It is about the choreography of what is seen and what is hidden from the view, and thechoreography of moving from one type of space and activity or mode of being to another. It is also about how people move, both physically in the space and also mentally through their experience: from the relaxation of the spa and sauna to the engagement in sports and physical activity to enjoying the social aspects of life in the company of others.

With a modular and flexible building system, the architectural concept is scalable from the smallest size of 800 to the largest size of 3500m2, and applicable to any site in the world. Combined with a custom toolbox, the modular system opens up possibilities for easy customization depending on variables such as customers’ needs, seasonal changes and local requirements etc. It can be adapted to meet the needs of different audiences. The timber structure made of CLT elements is an ecological choice that allows for flexibility in application as well as for sustainability in the life cycle of the building. Transportation of the modular elements for the partly floating structure is possible to arrange over waterways.

For a fuller description of the winning concept by OOPEAA, see HERE.

Allas Sea Pool is a product of collaboration between Töölö Urban Ltd, Bluet Ltd, Marinetek Ltd and several other operators. Töölö Urban is a development and investment company that owns and operates the AllasSea Pool, the Culture Factory Korjaamo, the Icepark, the movie theater Amos Rex and the Sofia Future Farm in Helsinki.