zwembad De Papiermolen

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, in Dutch. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

Description

Description

De Papiermolen comprises five pools arranged in a U-shape around a central terrace. The combined form of these pools refers to the residue of the Helperlinie on the south side of the city of Groningen. The various pools are interconnected, the building material is reinforced concrete. The deep pool or competition pool (50 x 20 metres) has six concrete starting blocks on the south side, all with a sequence number (1-6). The competition pool has a deep section on the west side for three diving boards/towers positioned there, all of reinforced concrete and fitted with a steel staircase with balustrade. South of the competition pool stand three identical, nine-sided concrete seating elements in red and white. On the west side is an instruction lane, alongside which runs a recessed deck so that a swimming instructor can stand at the same level as the swimmer and observe the swimming movements underwater through portholes. The shallow pool is also fitted with portholes. Between these lies the medium-depth pool. The division between the three basins is clearly marked by two concrete arch bridges with steps and metal railings. Between the deep and medium-depth basin, as an original dividing element, a kind of lock constructed from concrete piles was installed to prevent a swimmer from inadvertently entering water that was too deep. Koolhaas adopted this element from swimming pools in Zürich. On the west side lie the instruction pool and the children's pool. In the children's pool lies a yellow-painted teardrop-shaped island, made of reinforced concrete. This island is accessible in steps via ten concrete columns protruding above the water line. East of the children's pool runs a deck which is paved with concrete tiles and is bounded by a winding, waist-high masonry wall of brick which is topped with a concrete edge. On this edge stand four tubular metal artworks, all openwork and designed by Koolhaas: whale, snake, hippopotamus and spray nozzle. The winding low wall connects to a comb-shaped concrete structure which extends from the location to the middle of the pool, stands perpendicular to the pool edge and ends in a cylindrical concrete shaft. Next to this concrete structure and directly opposite it are two concrete water stairs, and elsewhere the children's pool is also accessed by means of water stairs. The children's pool has the shape of a diabolo and has two concrete planter boxes on the north side. Two straight bridges with reinforced concrete railings between the children's pool and shallow pool.

Valuation

The five pools of De Papiermolen with two concrete arch bridges and two straight concrete bridges are of general interest because of:

- their cultural-historical value in that contemporary, modern thinking about hygiene, social emancipation and leisure is expressed in the pools and bridges, and the pools in that sense serve as exemplars for the postwar period and also have significance for the history of swimming recreation;

- their significance for the history of architecture as expressed in the artistic qualities, namely the aesthetic character of the design, the intact condition and the rarity;

- their urban planning value as the pools and bridges form an integral part of the total design of De Papiermolen;

- their urban planning position: in both functional and design terms, the swimming pools function as the essence and orientation points of the design while the form and arrangement of the pools provide a direct reference to the dry and wet historical defensive structures at the location, relics of the Helperlinie from 1699 (south of De Papiermolen).