Category Archives: Swimming Pool News

Aqua Blue Designs are proud to announce that a hydrotherapy clinic we designed, which was opend 18 months ago, has won an award for energy efficiency. We were awarded runner up at the 2014 UK Pool & Spa Awards, presented at the Crowne Plaza, Birmingham, NEC, on Thursday February 20, 2014.

The who’s who in the pool industry gathered together at the recent UK Pool & Spa Awards, to recognise some of the best projects, companies and products that the wet leisure sector has to offer.

The hydrotherapy and physio clinic is now working at full capacity, with a staff of eight, serving disabled people, injured servicemen and women retuning from war zones, some post-operative patients after knee and hip operations and other therapy groups.

Having had over a full year in operation, the facility owners are more than happy with the way the building performs and all the plant within it.

We met the design brief fully and enjoyed a positive relationship with the client and the workforce throughout and we can be confident that the running costs will be much lower than normal for this type of energy hungry installation. Our philosophy is to work closely with our clients in a professional way and to hold together the diverse trades involved.

The winners of the hotly contested competition were presented with their trophies by Olympic bronze medallist and sports personality Stephen Parry. He commented:

The awards are a great way to recognise the outstanding achievements within the pool and spa industry, and to celebrate some of the best projects that have been completed over the past year. Swimming is a big part of my life, and I’m delighted to have been given the opportunity to meet the people behind the pools and to be a part of the awards evening.

The UK Pool & Spa Awards is a completely independent event, with no trade association affiliation, which means they are open to everyone involved in the water leisure sector whether as suppliers or as operators.

To view images of the installation, see our case study page.

Thanks to Broadstone Physiotherapy.

Aqua Blue Designs is a Spata award winning company which specialises in the design of wet leisure buildings. We are proud to have this challenging project on our portfolio, which includes similar work in 27 countries to date.

Aqua Blue was called in by the owners of Broadstone Physiotherapy, a well-established practice near Poole, to design a new building complete with all the specialist requirements of a 21st-century hydrotherapy clinic, to augment their existing dry treatments.

Mindful of the high energy demand of a pool heated to 35° C and high ancillary heating demands, the proprietors prevailed upon the designer to deliver a truly energy efficient building with U values superior to current building regulations. Aqua Blue were pioneers of the earliest energy-saving systems in Britain.

Propitiously, a plot of land was available, adjacent to the original clinic and Aqua Blue steered the project through the planning and design phases to create a building which was almost a mirror image of the existing building but with an open, full height interior which offers patients a lighter more uplifting experience than with a conventional ceiling height.

To achieve the target energy efficiency, the Logix ICF block system was used, faced with brick slips, achieving a U value of 0.21 for walls.

A Kooltherm system was utilized in the roof, achieving a U value of 0.16 and triple glazed units allowed a value of 0.6 to all glazing.

The 3 x 5-metre pool is an example of the best-insulated pool system on the market, supplied by Polypool Ltd. The pool water is sanitized via a UV unit with low-level auto chlorine dosing (to meet Public Health and Spata standards) from Certikin Ltd.

The whole pool hall is heated and dehumidified using a Heatstar, Gemini air handling unit. The underfloor ducted system maintains temperature and humidity at comfortable levels for patients.

Within the limited space available, the design had to accommodate adequate changing and showering facilities, in a welcoming style plus plant room and storage.

An overhead mechanical gantry was included to give access to the pool for disabled persons.

A mezzanine floor accessed via spiral stairs allowed extra staff changing and office space. This area incorporated the latest Stiebel Eltron air to water heat recovery system to reclaim excess heat from this area, which is utilised to meet the high demand for patient showers in an economical way.

The Stiebel units also create a more comfortable temperature on the mezzanine floor in hot weather.

The end product and pleasing finishes embody much of the proprietors’ input. They were also available to coordinate activity on site, with FJL builders and Moormead Leisure Ltd, the pool engineers, and this helped them to realise their goals.

This new investment of approx £350k, including the land, meets a growing demand for water-based treatment for back and joint ailments and postoperative therapy in Dorset. These services are now delivered in the latest facilities, with a personal touch by the proprietors and their dedicated team of therapists.

For more information, www.broadstonephysiotherapy.com.