Royal Commonwealth Pool

The Royal Commonwealth Pool stands in St Leonard’s, a district of Edinburgh. It is a category-A-listed building designed to host Scotland’s main swimming competitions. Locals often call it simply the Commonwealth Pool or the ‘Commie’. The pool was built in the late 1960s to bring the Commonwealth Games to the city. Robert Matthew Johnson Marshall led the architecture, with engineering support from Ove Arup & Partners. It opened in October 1969, just in time for the 1970 British Commonwealth Games. The pool has hosted major events, including the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh. It also featured in the 2014 Games and the 2018 European Championships. In 2009 it closed for a £37 million refurbishment led by S&P Architects. The work added a 25-metre diving pool and teaching pool, plus new changing rooms and a café. The project took longer than planned but reopened in March 2012. Inside, visitors find a 50-metre main pool alongside the new diving and teaching pools. The reception and dive gym were modernised during refurbishment. The building’s clean lines and functional design reflect its post-war origins. DoCoMoMo recognised it as one of sixty key Scottish monuments from this period. Its setting in St Leonard’s links it to Edinburgh’s wider sporting heritage.