A transformative restoration programme at Swindon Health Hydro is underway to improve the community facility. The first phase of work has balanced heritage restoration with modern intervention, enabling the Main Pool to reopen to the public.
- Sector
- Public
- Tags
- Grade II*
- Service
- Conservation architecture
Built in 1892 by and for the Great Western Railway (GWR) workers’ Medical Fund, Swindon’s Health Hydro was pioneering for its time. The Grade II*-listed building housed health, leisure and wellbeing facilities all in one location, and eventually served the whole of Swindon. After the building fell into poor condition, DIA prepared a Conservation Management Plan of the site to guide the changes and strategic thinking needed to secure the building’s future.
Since temporarily closing in 2023, the building has been undergoing a restoration programme of internal re-ordering, led by Fourth Street and MCAU architects on behalf of Swindon Borough Council. The first phase of works re-opened in January 2026, and includes a reconfigured entrance, new fitness space in the historic Wash Baths Hall and a fully remodelled set of changing rooms, including new accessible changing facilities and Changing Places, which significantly improves the user experience while respecting the Hydro’s heritage features. The building’s heating, ventilation, pool filtration and electrical services have also been replaced, and consolidated in a new Plant Room structure.
Part of the Faringdon Road façade has also been sensitively restored as part of a Historic England-funded programme of conservation works, led by DIA, and sets a visible example of the ‘aspirational’ finish for the rest of the building.
Future phases of work are planned to bring additional areas back into regular public use, including an initial package of Historic England-funded repair works to the Turkish Baths suite, being led by DIA, which is due to complete in mid-2026. DIA have also led the design of a proposed programme of conservation and low carbon retrofit works to the Main Pool Hall. This scheme seeks to unwrap, interpret and showcase the layers of the Hydro’s history, and has been funded by a development grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Planning and Listed Building Consent were granted in Summer 2025.
Project Team
| Client | Swindon Borough Council |
| Facility & Leaseholder Operator | GLL |
| Project Manager & Client Representatives | Fourth Street |
| Lead Architect | MCAU Architects |
| Conservation Architect | Donald Insall Associates |
| Structural & Civil Engineering | The Morton Partnership |
| MEPH Consultant | Doug King Consulting |
| Quantity Surveyor | Walker Associates |
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