Also named Kauwingka – Place of Water – the Centre is the work of a design collaboration between Adelaide practice, JPE Design Studio, in partnership with aquatic and recreation architecture specialists, Warren and Mahoney (WAM), and Cultural Creative Designer, Karl Winda Telfer – Burka Senior Man of the Mullawirra Meyunna – Dry Forest People.

The new Centre supports diverse users and activities, including social spaces, leisure water play, rehabilitation and lap swimming, fitness and wellbeing facilities, education and group participation.

Multi-programming and “sport on display” are enabled through clear planning and flexible spaces, including a café, water play areas, waterslides, lagoon, 25m indoor poor, 50m outdoor pool, and an inclusive “amenities village” model, which includes a sensory room, a multi-faith room and a carer’s room. It’s creation also returns more than 1000sqm of Park Lands back to the local community.

JPE Design Studio Director, Josephine Evans, says the team was guided by principles of inclusivity, community, and environmental rejuvenation and a philosophy to create “a landscape within a landscape”.

“We set out to create a destination that fosters participation and wellness to connect communities and enhance the Adelaide Park Lands as a vibrant social and cultural hub,’’ she says.

“The design outcome is responsive to stakeholder and community feedback from more than 1200 locals led by the South Australian Government and included robust testing of various modes and user group activities.

“The result is a wide range of programs and services that are multi-generational which seek to create myriad experiences and enduring engagement.”

According to Evans, the Centre is sited to respect National Heritage values and seeks to nestle into the Park Lands, maintaining a clear delineation between city and park. The building in the round responds to its locality, existing movement networks, and the broader precinct. The landscape blurs boundaries, prioritising amenity and celebrating a sense of play, while increasing biodiversity.”

“This project brings together unique knowledge. Our co-design approach has led to an expansion of what is possible and has challenged the notion of building infrastructure to creating places for all people, broadening its civic role,” she adds.

WAM Principal, Daryl Maguire says the ultimate sport and community recreation environment comes from distilling complexity into purposeful, high quality outcomes.

“By using standard materials in creative ways and prioritising quality over complexity, we have achieved durable, efficient, and cost effective solutions that also support an environmentally regenerative design response,’’ he says.

“The centre is composed of two elongated pavilions with contrasting expressions – one playful, invitational and open to the park, the other more formal and functional, responding to aspects of privacy, enclosure and protection.

“Key internal axis provide connection between the various functions of the facility, embedding the `flow of water’ narrative into functional planning that results in opportunities for community interaction and inclusive connection.”

Maguire says that community activity is prioritised along the two-storey northern interface with a seamless indoor-outdoor relationship. To the south, timber-housed pool halls are compartmentalised to improve comfort, acoustics and operational efficiency, enabling greater flexibility and adaptability in the programs offered to the community.

This compartmentalised approach to key functions is revolutionary in relation to aquatic facilities in Australia and enables the facility to operate in event mode, leisure mode and recreation modes simultaneously.

“Natural and low embodied carbon materials are central to this expression, including the use of a mass timber structure that brings warmth, tactility, and performance for this all-electric, 100% renewably powered building.

"Abundant natural light and strong visual connections to outside spaces and views enhance wellbeing, anchoring the building in the context of the Adelaide Parklands, while complex user needs have been resolved through careful mapping of movement patterns and destinations, supporting strong functional performance and avoiding circulation pinch points. It’s a centre designed for longevity, optimised operations and to be a much-loved facility for generations to come,” he says.

The Adelaide Aquatic Centre (Kauwingka – Place of Water) delivers lasting urban outcomes by creating a connected, climate-responsive and culturally grounded urban design response within the Adelaide Park Lands.

“As the Story of Water holder and Design Partner for this place, my role was to ensure water is understood not as an object, but as a living presence - carrying memory, movement, light and generational cultural water wisdom through the ripples and reflections of time,” Cultural Creative Designer Karl Winda Telfer says.

“This was informed by my mother Georgina Yambo Williams (Nganki Burka Mekauwe - Senior Woman of Water). The design flows from a deep respect for country and the surrounding Park Lands which hold bicultural values in both Heritage and living cultures. This is a story of healing, regeneration and renewal.”

He adds that water flows and shapes the architecture throughout this project. It informs the curves of the building, the way spaces gather and release, and how people move through the space. Across land, sea and sky, the forms remain connected in constant dialogue with Country, embedding storytelling, identity and continuity within every layer of the design.

“Inside, the architecture draws on cultural and biophilic principles to bring the outside in. Light, air and organic form reflect the rhythms of nature, allowing visitors to feel held within the cycles of water and the cultural landscape. This is a place where spirit, body and water come together - honouring what has always been here while carrying the culture of water through the coming generations,” Telfer says.

“The interior concept is also shaped by the movement and flow of water – revealing sculpted, pebble like forms that express the layered materiality, texture, and form of a natural setting,” adds JPE’s Evans.

“Material choices draw on the warmth, textures, and natural tones of the local landscape to strengthen a connection to place. It’s a place that promotes inclusion, safety, and accessibility for people of all abilities, cultures, genders, and ages – encouraging meaningful engagement with the facility, its programs, and the unique setting of the Park Lands.’’

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