We are thrilled to have attended the grand opening of the new Hydrotherapy Pool at Philip Southcote School in Surrey! As the structural designers for this vital facility, we are proud to contribute to the Hydrotherapy Pool, which is an integral part of the physiotherapy and occupational therapy that the school provides to students.

Our Role in the Project

Working alongside Morgan Sindall (Main Contractor), Pellings (Project Manager), Edgingtons Architects, Tournay Godfrey (MEP Consultants), QED Structures undertook the structural and civil engineering for the Hydrotherapy Pool and associated structures. A special thanks to Myrtha Pools (pool specialists), and Barr & Wray (pool equipment consultants) for their invaluable contributions.

Structural Design and Construction

The structure is a mix of steel frame and traditional masonry wall construction. The steel frame is located over the main pool room, while the traditional masonry wall construction is used in the changing rooms and entrance area. The pool structure features a steel-braced frame on concrete foundations, with load-bearing blockwork and a timber-joisted roof for the changing and pool facilities.

Enhancing Accessibility

A significant feature of the pool is the hoist system, which allows students to get in and out of the pool and into the changing room with ease, making the overall experience much more pleasant. We coordinated with the hoist manufacturers to ensure the hoist structure was fully accounted for structurally and provided secondary steelwork to follow the hoist tracking locations.

Overcoming Challenges

One of the main considerations that made this job slightly unusual was the pool itself, requiring structural solutions without loading up the swimming pool retaining walls. Another key challenge was the swimming pool balance tank, housed outside the building footprint, which impacted our foundation solution and required coordination with the entire design team throughout the project.

We installed a reinforced concrete ring beam into the top of the mass concrete footings to span horizontally, ensuring that when the tank was installed or replaced at a later stage, the footings would remain stable.

Conclusion

We are proud to have been part of this project and to contribute to the well-being of the students at Philip Southcote School. Thank you to everyone involved in making this project a success!