Waterworld

Waterworld stands in Wrexham, North Wales, as a leisure centre built in 1967 with a striking hyperbolic paraboloid roof, the only one of its kind in Wales. The building originally housed three pools, including a 33.5-metre main pool and a deep diving pool, alongside a gym and basement spaces used by the Wrexham Symphony Orchestra. Its design sparked controversy at the time, with critics calling it hyperbolic, parabolic and diabolic. The centre’s survival has been hard-won. Proposals to demolish it were abandoned in 2015 after funding concerns, and it was later transferred to Freedom Leisure in 2016. A £1–1.5 million refurbishment in 2017 updated the gym and facilities, though criticism followed over cleanliness on upper floors. A petition later called for the return of the centre’s unofficial green inflatable alien mascot, once visible overlooking a nearby roundabout. Visitors find multiple pools, a lazy river, water slide and bubble pool, along with a large viewing terrace. The gym, Costa Café and spaces for activities sit alongside the pools, which include a leisure pool with river rapids and a spa pool. The main pool can be shortened for water polo or short-course events, while spectator seating holds over 200. The building’s Grade II listing in 2025 recognises its architectural significance.