You can wait decades for an outdoor sea pool and then two come along at once. But this one, turning the corner of the bay peninsular along from St Peter Port in the Channel Islands at La Vallette, by young local practice DLM Architects, is the first that offers less soggy sandwiches, more a slice of Aussie cool. In summer as the year-round turquoise waters heat up, perhaps it will even beat those down under, mixed in as it is with Scandinavian hygge. The building's story exhibits the many strands that are coming to define the renaissance in lidos around the British Isles. They are Victorian bathing inlets that were enclosed by Edwardians, made more majestic in the 1920/30s, then fell into disrepair with the advent of cheap European holidays. Yet an ardently loyal community of enthusiasts makes them sensitive to change. Many are being rescued by grassroots action: social enterprises, charitable trusts and fundraising.
展开▼
