The Sauvenière's swimming-pool

Type	Country	Date	On the Map	Status	Rating
Public building	Belgium	2006-03-01		Reconverted	****

A Glorious Bulding

At the heart of Liège, Sauvenière's thermal baths are housed inside a substantial six story building. Built between 1938 and 1942 by the famous belgian architect Georges Dedoyard, it is a large sports complex including a huge indoor swimming pool - the first in the city since the first world war.

Located at the third floor, surprisingly, is the imposing 80 metre long great pool hall. The hall is attractively lit by a vault formed from a curious fabrication of concrete reinforced glass, made by the famous crystal manufacturer Val Saint Lambert. Inside are two pools: the "non-swimmers" pool (25m x 15m), and the great pool with dimensions (33m x 14m) that met the olympic standard of the day. The great pool is surrounded by a stand for 1250 people, including heating banquettes.

 

 

Explorations Times...

No longer meeting safety regulations, the pool closed in 2000 and much of the building was gradually abandoned. Only a few facilities were still active by late 2005.

After much wrangling over an eventual re-opening - with time having left it's footprint - the renovation project ideas were discontinued and forgotten.

The place is huge, cold, the colors washed-out. The facilities are quaint, but in a good shape: saunas, public baths, light baths (luminotherapy) among others.

Whilst exploring the basement we found an old air raid shelter used by german soldiers in the second world war...

 

 

A Brighter Future

Threatened by demolition, this Liège icon was finally saved in 2004, being listed as a monument.

More recently the MNEMA - an organisation dedicated to "preserving the human memory" - succeeded in getting acceptance for its project to restore the Sauvenière's baths. The plans is to modernize the building and house the citizenship museum in 2010.