A highlight for water sports in the Croatian city of Pula – the new public swimming pool, which was completed in 2018. It features a stylish façade with a striking, projecting roof on the outside and perfect conditions for swimming on the inside – both made possible with AQUAPANEL^® technology.

Pula is one of the most beautiful coastal towns on the Adriatic in Croatia, boasting beaches as well as a rich Roman history. Recently, one of the biggest inner-city developments was completed, adding an additional highlight to Pula’s many features. The Veruda sports park now has a new public swimming pool, which offers leisure and wellness facilities as well as ideal conditions for swimming and water polo training. 

The architects at Urbis Architecture d.o.o. in Pula had several challenges to overcome when it came to the design of the building. They wanted to implement a protruding exterior roof with a special geometry comprising different angles and long slopes. What they needed was a lightweight material that was easy to adapt to the design shape. At the same time, the material had to be very resistant, not only to weather conditions but also due to the closeness of the sea and the very salty air.

The solution for this task was found in AQUAPANEL^® Cement Board SkyLite. These boards are especially designed for building ceilings and combine a very low weight of only 10.5 kg/m² with great robustness and resistance to moisture and driving rain – and easy handling as well.

The interior construction also required an intelligent solution, as it has to withstand the typical tough conditions of a swimming pool: high temperatures, very high humidity, occasional direct water impact as well as chlorine exposure. The AQUAPANEL^® Cement Board range was the right choice for this task as the cement boards offer optimum resistance, even against mould and mildew. But here two different solutions were used.

While AQUAPANEL^® Cement Board SkyLite played out its weight advantage in parts of the interior ceiling construction, AQUAPANEL^® Cement Board Indoor was used for the walls mainly because of its easy handling and flexibility. The boards could even be bent into rounded shapes, perfectly suited for the building’s porthole windows. Both successfully contributed to a beautifully designed and highly functional sports facility in Pula.