Illiz Architektur mounted this indoor swimming pool on top of a disused concrete shelter for rescue forces to offer bathers views of Switzerland's Lake Zurich.
Zurich-based Illiz Architektur won a competition to design the Swimming Pool Allmendli ? a 1,131 square metre centre for children to learn how to swim.

Located at the edge of the Erlenbach school campus, the subterranean soldier's billet had disappeared under an overgrown hill and a sports field over the years.
From outside, the only identifiable markings were two entries dug into the hillside.

The architects left the raw character of the old concrete facility intact, and suspended the pool above, at the top of the hill. The surface of the water is level with the surrounding terrain, offering expansive views over Lake Zurich. "Instead of excavating under the former billet to accommodate the enormous volume of the pool, the pool would simply be suspended above the existing cubature of the underground space," said the architects who worked with local engineers Pöyry Schweiz AG to complete the design.

On the outside, a row of slender steel columns and glass encases the pool, resting on two large concrete walls on the lower level.
Inside, the concrete columns remain exposed, supporting a coffered concrete ceiling that spans the bathing hall.

"The actual bathing hall was designed as a light-filled pavilion over the new pool and now marks the urban end of the school grounds," said the ar...