News
A floating pool in the Bassin de la Villette (Paris)
This summer, bathers were able to swim in the Bassin de la Villette canal in Paris's XIXth arrondissement. Our teams installed a 100m long secure floating pool comprising three swimming areas, each with a different depth.
It is now possible to swim in the Bassin de la Villette! As part of Paris Plages 2017, the city of Paris decided to install a secure swimming area to welcome holidaymakers spending time in the capital during the summer. They were able to swim in flowing, natural water thanks to the pools installed at different depths. Made up of SunnyDock floating cubes and finished with wood composite planking, the floating pool has the particular feature that it can be easily dismantled then reinstalled during the next summer season
Officially opened on 18 July in the presence of the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, the floating pool was a huge success. Indeed, the maximum daily limit of 1,000 people was increased to 2,000 to meet the Parisians' great demand.
Initially scheduled for 3 September, the area's closure was also deferred to 10 September.
A floating and modular pool
The Dock Marine floating pool comprises four structures:
- A 100.00m x 16.00m floating 'beach', made up of floating cubes and finished with wood composite planking. It is demarcated by railing posts, and comprises the visible section of the floating pool;
- A first pool measuring 10.00m x 10.00m immersed to a depth of 0.40m;
- A second pool measuring 30.00m x 12.00m immersed to a depth of 1.20m;
- A third pool measuring 48.00m x 12.00m immersed to a depth of 2.00m.
The pool bases are also made up of SunnyDock floating cubes. These are maintained at the required depth by means of aluminium profiles screwed into the cubes' ears. Polycarbonate partitions are slipped between these profiles to demarcate and secure the pools. These partitions only allow water to pass through, and prevent swimmers from exiting or logjams from entering.
To create the wood composite planking and the beach railing posts, we worked in collaboration with the design agency IOL. This was the first time that this type of planking had been used to dress one of our floating pools. We therefore had to imagine and conceptualise a completely new covering system that met all our requirements in terms of logistics, aesthetics and safety.
.jpg)
A safe bathing area
To ensure the safety of all the bathers, six of the city's lifeguards were permanently deployed to the entire site. They were on duty from 11.00am to 9.00pm every day the site was open.
For many years, the city of Paris has been putting every effort into cleaning up the canal water and being able to guarantee optimum swimming conditions. The quality of the water has achieved a more than satisfactory level, and daily analyses were carried out throughout the whole duration of the event.
They talked about our floating pool
- Baignade à La Villette : «Profiter du soleil dans Paris, c'est magnifique», Libération (France)
- Paris Plages 2017 : la baignade à La Villette est ouverte !, France 3 (France)
- Ouverture de la baignade à Paris: une file d'attente monstre pour le premier jour, Le HuffPost (France)
- Paris öffnet Freibad in Kanalbecken, RP Online (Germany)
- Zum Baden nach Paris - Natürliches Badeerlebnis im Fluss-Schwimmbad, Volksfreund (Germany)
- Neues Freibad in Paris, Deutsche Welle (Germany)
- A Parigi per la prima volta si potrà fare il bagno nella Senna, TPI News (Italy)
- Let's All Swim in the Once-Filthy Canals of Paris, City Lab (United-States)
- París: estrenan tres piletas con agua del Sena, TN Todos Noticias (Argentina)