The Aquatic Centre and an adjacent athletics and football stadium were designed by Philip Cox Richardson Taylor & Partners and constructed at Thammasat University, Bangkok, during 1995 to 1998.

The Aquatic Centre includes three competition pools for swimming, diving and water polo, seating for 6000 people and electronic score boards. The Centre's roof is supported by a bow truss system creating a thin 'floating' curved enclosure extending beyond the seating banks. The sides of the Centre are open.

The nearby 20,000 seat stadium features suspended roofs similar to those designed for Canberra Stadium and the Sydney Football Stadium.

The Aquatic Centre at Thammasat University is an example of the international profile achieved by Australian architects during the past two decades.

Cox Architects' expertise in stadium architecture attracted international exposure and commissions including this high-profile building for the 1998 Asian Games.

Charles Pickett, curator Design and built environment.

Designed by Philip Cox and Partners, 1995.

Philip Cox (b.1939) is one of Australia's most prolific and influential architects. Shortly after graduating from the University of Sydney in 1962 Cox went into partnership with established architect Ian McKay. This alliance facilitated work on two large projects early in Cox's career. The first was a boys's home for the Presbyterian Church at Emerald Hill, Leppington, the second the Alexander Agricultural College at Tocal, near Paterson in the NSW Hunter Valley. These projects were awarded the Sulman Prize in 1963 and 1965 respectively.

Cox formed his own practice in 1972. The National Athletics Stadium and adjacent AIS Sports and Training Centre were its first major projects. They were doubly significant is establishing the steel structuralist design vocabulary associated with Cox from this time and used in numerous high-profile projects including the Sydney Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour, the Australian National Maritime Museum and the Uluru Tourist Resort.

The Canberra venues also laid the foundations for Cox's eminence in the new (in Australia) field of stadium architecture. In this field Cox's work includes the Sydney Football Stadium, the National Tennis Centre, Melbourne, the Sydney Showground Arena, AAMI Park, Melbourne and the Khalifa Stadium, Doha.

Cox and his practise have been influential in several building genres. During the 1980s Cox Architects designed some significant low-rise public housing apartment complexes in Wolloomooloo and other Sydney locations. These projects created new neighbourhoods carefully integrated with established but socially and architecturally challenged areas. The urban renewal theme is also evident in Cox's design for the Haymarket campus and library for the University of Technology, Sydney.

Other Cox buildings sited close the Powerhouse Museum are the UTS Design, Architecture and Building Faculty on Harris Street and the neighbouring second (TV studio) stage of the ABC complex.

Architectural model of the Aquatic Centre designed for the 1998 Asian Games.

The Asian Games is a multi-sport event hosted every four years. The first edition of the Games was hosted by New Delhi in 1951; the most recent (2010) Games was held in Guangzhou, China. The Games' organisation is the Olympic Council of Asia.

The Aquatic Centre and an adjacent athletics and football stadium were designed and built for the 1998 Asian Games at Bangkok, Thailand. They were also intended as venues for a Bangkok bid for the Olympic Games; however this bid did not proceed.

Architectural Model, Aquatic Centre, Asian Games, Bangkok, plastic / cardboard, Philip Cox / Cox Architects, Australia, 1995.
Architectural model of the Aquatic Centre proposed for the Asian Games in 1998. Constructed from cardboard and plastic. Centre features several covered areas rather than solid buildings with roofs being like flat white sails. Model is simply constructed with two tiered entrance and steps at front. Model sits on brown rectangular base that is entirely covered by detachable perspex case.

Made: Cox Architects; Australia; 1995 - 1998

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1995 - 1998