Swimming to Centrepoint in 1966

Swimming was all the rage though: August 1966 included a feature on the special problems of glass and glazing in swimming pools.

The old Coventry Central Baths were destroyed in air raids in 1940. The impressive new pool ranks as one of the city’s more successful rebuilding projects, boasting an Olympic size main pool, a 110ft smaller pool, and a teaching pool. The main pool is T-shaped and has a separate diving bay.

The steel framed building features distinctive cantilevered roof wings. The full height glazing is mainly 3/16 inch drawn sheet glass or 1/4 inch polished plate Insulight double glazed units with a 1/2 inch hermetically sealed cavity – dimensions 96 by 48 inches and 96 by 96 inches. Patent roof glazing provides 200ft of continuous decklight.

Noise and solar gain were two problems that had to be addressed in the design. ‘Glass scarcely helps the problem of noise control in swimming pools’, wrote Editor Allan Plowman. ‘Ceilings and upholstered seats in the gallery have high absorption coefficients, however, and the internal surfaces of window mullions have been lined with a perforated aluminium panel backed with glass fibre.’

The problem of solar gain through large areas of glass is met by a refrigeration system employing drilled water cooler batteries. The condensers use the pool water as a coolant, thereby obviating the need for a cooling tower. Pool halls have full air conditioning, and all windows are sealed – only the administration offices have windows with opening lights.

Largest glazed bridge

Also covered in August 1966, London’s Centrepoint landmark entailed the use of some 100,000 sq. ft of glass.

The glazed bridge connecting the 34 storey tower spans 170ft and is 17ft high, fully glazed with 3/4 inch toughened, which made it the largest glazed assembly of its kind in Europe at the time. The system was tested to withstand the stipulated wind pressure of 66lb per square foot – the equivalent of a 156 mph gale.