Commission for  Lutis for their birthday.

Pentwyn Leisure Centre is a 1980’s leisure centre in Cardiff, South Wales. It was designed around 1985 by JRC Bethell, and was built to a design similar to the centre at Llanishen, but featuring a number of improvements both aesthetically and functionally. The centre opened in 2 phases, between 1986 and 1989 when the pool was completed.

The pool was a large, free-form leisure pool with a shore at the shallow end, wave machine and waterslide. A large fountain also stood at the shore, contributing to the fun atmosphere of the pool. A poolside cafeteria served fast food and cold drinks including slush puppies, and featured a number of vending machines filled with sweet treats and snacks.

The building was designed in a playful, postmodernist style which predominantly used yellow brick with red decorative brickwork. Glass doors and windows along with the peaked roof were painted deep green whilst guttering and solid exterior doors were finished in red. End windows slanted at 45 degrees, adding further visual interest to the exterior. Internally, the centre also made extensive use of yellow brick. Internal doors were bright yellow with green trim and bright red railings adorned the staircase and balconies. The floors were tiled in soft cream, with terracotta tiles where they met the walls. The centre was warmly lit which gave it a gentle, welcoming atmosphere. The lower half of the walls in the pool area were decorated with vibrant mosaics, depicting tropical scenes and pirate ships.

Along with Cardiff’s other leisure facilities, it was until recently operated by Cardiff Council but unfortunately was handed over to GLL (trading as Better Leisure) due to budget cuts. GLL preceded to make changes in order to maximise profits and reduce spending, such as lowering the water temperature, closing the cafeteria and dividing the pool up to facilitate lane swimming and swim lessons being run alongside each other. This ran against the original design intention of a “fun pool” and resulted in the flume and wave machine being unused most of the time.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, most swimming pools have been temporarily closed between 2020 and 2021. Unfortunately, GLL has decided to permanently close a number of the centres it operates - predominantly those with leisure pools. Pentwyn seems to have been hit by this and has not reopened with the other facilities in the area. Furthermore, plans have been announced to redevelop the site. This plan, besides from unsympathetic modernisation of the building, would involve demolition of the original pool, replacing it with a modern lane pool.

At this time, Pentwyn stands as a unique example of a 1980’s leisure centre with very little having been changed over the years, and retains almost all of its original charm.