The Municipality of Vysoké Mýto opened the swimming pool with a depth that can be adjusted according to the requirements, capabilities and age of the swimmers at the beginning of March after its reconstruction. The initial unique technology of the partially sliding bottom was modernised and the ceramic tub was replaced by a steel tub. The floors around the swimming pool, tubs, showers and toilets, sauna world were also fully reconstructed, the dressing rooms and entrance hall are also more spacious. The RAKO ceramic tiles were used everywhere, specifically 2,000 m2 of tiles and 1,200 m2 of floor tiles, of which the architect suggested the design of the atypical rounded bench or the application of the crashing waves motif.
The operation of the swimming pool in Vysoké Mýto started in 1981, and the recent reconstruction was done in stages. The swimming pool was opened to the public at the beginning of March after the last reconstruction stage. The author of the technical building design of the reconstruction and extension of the covered swimming pool in Vysoké Mýto is the CODE Pardubice design office, and the author of the architectural, disposition and interior design is Ing. arch. Karel Rothanzl.
Five metres wider
The swimming pool building was widened by five metres during reconstruction. Thanks to this, the entrance hall is more spacious, and an administrative base, seating space and a new reception desk were additionally created here. The Extra black ceramic tile series of the RAKO brand form the elegant and functional floor in the entrance hall, on the stairway to the gallery and in the adjacent toilets. The large formats 80 x 80 cm and 80 x 40 cm on the stairway were supplemented by the shaped stair bricks of the same series.
The visitors shall appreciate the larger capacity and new appearance of the dressing rooms with Stones series imitation stone floor tiles. Safety in the showers is ensured by ColorTwo anti-slip ceramic mosaics from the entire RAKO OBJECT range.
Swimming pool hall with functional design
The swimming pool itself is 25 metres long and 12.5 metres wide. The mobile floor forms about half of the pool tub. The surrounding areas were also reconstructed. “I perceive the swimming pool hall as a sports facility, which must be perfectly functional. Moreover, a significant sports club already has its historical facilities here,” says Ing. arch. Karel Rothanzl stating the reason for choice of the simple, clean appearance of the swimming pool hall and further specifies: “In the case of the ceramic tiles, it was moreover necessary to match the design and technical parameters with safe operation.” For the surroundings of the swimming pool tub, the architect proposed white tiles of format 20 x 10 cm from the Pool series with a relief surface of anti-slip category B. This anti-slip level is stipulated for public pools with regard to the safety standard.
The rounded shapes of the benches were modelled by a mosaic
The 2.5 x 2.5 cm mosaic from the ColorTWO series has become the basis for the practical benches at several points of the object: in the sauna world at the cooling swimming pool and in the steam cabin, at the children’s swimming pool and in the swimming pool hall. Here, the light blue mosaic helped model the atypical rounded shapes of the benches intended for seating in the swimming pool surroundings.
The next ceramic detail is directly under the benches in the swimming pool hall – it is skirting with a small gutter, which is a special ceramic shaped brick, which eases the outflow of water in the transition between the wall and the floor, prevents the settling of dirt and facilitates thorough cleaning.
The upper surface of the starting blocks realised using Pool series tiles of format 10 x 10 cm according to the standard requirements fall under anti-slip category C, i.e. the highest anti-slip category. Relief surfaces of anti-slip category “C” are applied to floors with a high slipping hazard, slanted edges of the swimming pools, starting blocks, etc. It is necessary to realise that transition from an anti-slip surface of category “C” to a category “B” surface is emotionally perceptible.
The mosaic is material, which does not grow old. The mosaics represent a practical solution in all places where we want to tile non-standardly rounded surfaces of a tub, the bottoms of showers or liven up the simple design of the basic tile or accentuate the contrast between the big and small formats. The swimming pool in Vysoké Mýto is proof of how a mosaic can be used for an excellent creation. We most frequently encounter the traditional mosaic formats 2.5 x 2.5 cm or 5 x 5 cm to 10 x 10 cm. “For the surrounding pools I would certainly rather recommend the choice of smaller ceramic tile formats. Larger format floor tiles can optically be emotionally perceived by the human brain as more slippery than the small formats although measurements proves that they are in the same anti-slip class. It is also for this reason that the mosaic format tiles are used in the vicinity of the swimming pools and showers. They also have objective advantages. Small formats show a higher percentage of jointed surfaces per square metre than applies to larger formats. The water more easily flows off via the joints and the floor tiles themselves are drier on the surface,” comments Miroslav Levora for the RAKO project team.
A novelty is the children's swimming pool
Families with children can use the novelty: “A new hall with a dual level children’s swimming pool with children’s attractions has been added to the object,” says Ing. Viktor Meduna of CODE Pardubice, who is the author of the author of the technical building design. The children’s swimming pool is located just next to the main swimming pool hall, behind a glass wall.
“The hall containing the children’s swimming pool is visually connected to the main swimming pool by a glass wall. I no longer perceive it as a sports facility, but as a place for leisure-time activities,” says Ing. arch. Rothanzl explaining the concept of the interior. “This makes the design of the premises more colourful although similar colour shades are used. Apart from the glass partition wall, the rest of the walls are lined with ceramic tiles with the motif of crashing waves,” adds Ing. arch. Rothanzl. The playful ceramic mosaic also adorns the columns and benches in the hall housing the children’s swimming pool. All the ceramic tiles are from the ColorTWO series of the RAKO OBJECT brand, which includes glazed tiles in a scope of 24 combinable colour shades.
Modern sauna world
Overall modernisation has also substantially affected the sauna space. The initial interiors, which housed the sauna and massage facilities, were replaced by the modern sauna world. Apart from the new steam and Finnish sauna with the back areas, and naturally also many modern technologies for measurement, regulation and treatment of the water; the Kneipp pavement or steam cabin was added here. The cooling pool, massage room, bar, dressing rooms and social amenities have been given a new appearance.
For the interiors of the sauna world intended for relaxation and warming, the architect opted for ceramic tiles with warm natural colour shades with the perfect appearance of wooden boards from the Board series while the places that are rather focused on cooling are lined with visually cold materials, for instance, tiles with stone design from the Stones series. Apart from the 60 x 60 cm and 60 x 30 cm formats, mosaics for the same series were also abundantly used here. New storage and social amenities were created for the staff in the basement, where Taurus Granit sintered unglazed tiles were used.
The RAKO project team was actively involved in the determination of the suitable materials both in terms of characteristics and the suitability of the individual products. All the materials fulfil not only the architectural design, but also the demanding technical requirements for such materials when used in swimming pools, wellness facilities or social amenities.
The perfect final appearance of the ceramic surfaces was also ensured by precise realisation and subsequent thorough post-construction cleaning. When installing the large format materials on a vertical wall, the so-called klip-kop jigs were used, plastic clips with wedges set in the joints, which ensured the perfect flatness of the tiled surfaces. Cleaning of the cement veils and residues of the joint filler from the ceramic surfaces after completion of building construction works shall be ensured using the RAKO CL 802 cleaner from the RAKO SYSTEM series.
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