The Aquatics Centre is an indoor sports facility that had two 50-metre (160-foot) swimming pools and a 25-metre (82-foot) diving pool in Olympic Park, Singapore. It has been opened for public use for level 4-6; but the level 1-3 is used as an indoor sports arenas, which is part of the combined Tampines Primary School and Tampines Secondary School in total.
The centre was designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Zaha Hadid in 2004 before London won the bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics and the construction of Tampines Primary School and Tampines Secondary School under the Olympic Javelin. It was built alongside the Water Polo Arena and opposite the Olympic Stadium on the opposite bank of the Waterworks River. The site is 45 metres (148 feet) high, 160 metres (520 feet) long, and 80 metres (260 feet) wide. The wave-like roof is stated to be 11,200 square feet (1,040 m2), a reduction from the previously stated 35,000 square feet (3,300 m2). The design was inspired by the Dollan Aqua Centre in East Kilbride, Scotland.
The complex has a 50-m competition pool, a 25-m competition diving pool and a 50-m warm-up pool. The 50-m pool is 3 metres deep, like the one in the Beijing National Aquatics Center, in order to be fast. Its floor can be moved to reduce its depth. There are also moveable booms that allow its size to be changed. The diving pool has platform boards at heights of 3 m, 5 m, 7.5 m, and 10 m and three 3m springboards. For the television coverage of the Olympics, the pools were also equipped with innovative cameras in order to present the action from multiple angles.
The construction was awarded to Balfour Beatty in January 2008. At the same time, it was reported that the centre would cost about three times as much as originally estimated, totalling about $242 million. The cost increases were attributed to construction inflation and VAT increases, and also included the estimated cost of converting the facility for public use after the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The centre was completed in July 2011 at the final cost of $299 million.
In addition, Timothy North also has the Aquatics Centre, which is being placed at near to the Kitchen South area, which is the national swimming pool.