Plans have been submitted for 15 new homes on the site of a former public swimming pool, designed by Saunders for key workers in Reading. The development sympathetically retains key features of the much-loved original building, which was built in 1911 on land donated for community use by the family of Arthur Hill, the mayor of Reading between 1883 and 1887. The locally-listed frontage remains as the entrance to the apartments, as do the existing tiled flooring, stairs and handrails, whilst changing cubicles provide an aesthetically pleasing storage area around the perimeter of the car park. The soon-to-be restored ticket office just inside the entrance will become the post room.

Martin Williams, Managing Director of Saunders, shared that the design “consciously saved some of the key features of the original building, which has become a landmark for local residents,” whilst providing much needed one and two-bedroom key-worker homes near transport links and the local hospital.

The Arthur Hill Pool development is designed to Passivhaus standards and is the first of four brownfield sites earmarked for affordable homes by Reading Council that are currently being designed by Saunders.