City Park Mirror Pool – Bradford, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 53° 47.524 W 001° 45.302
30U E 582011 N 5961107
This mirror pool is the largest water feature in the UK and opened in February 2012. It is situated outside the Victorian City Hall.
Waymark Code: WMEFHT
Location: Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 05/22/2012
Views: 3
The water feature is part of a major urban redevelopment project and cost 24.4 million pounds. This large cost has made the feature very controversial locally but Bradford City Council is hoping it will attract many visitors and help to revitalise the city centre.
The pool covers an area of 3 size football pitches and its appearance changes throughout the day. The area has a number of shallow pools with slightly raised pathways and a total of 107 fountains.
The area is drained each night and the water collected in an underground cistern and filtered for use the next day.
Early in the morning when the fountains are turned on the walkways provide access right across the pool. Throughout the day the pools slowly fill up and eventually cover the pathways forming one large pool. The pool is still not deep and provides a paddling area for anyone so inclined.
The majority of the fountains are arranged round the circumference of the pool but there is also an area where an archway is formed by opposing fountains which children love to run through.
In the centre of the pool is a large central fountain that is turned off most of the time but can be turned on to reach a height of 30 metres, depending on how hard the wind is blowing.
As part of the development is a toilet block with changing rooms for anyone wishing to go paddling.
At night the jets are lit by computer controlled coloured lights.
Before the pool was built the area was used from time to time to host outdoor events. Part of the design of the pool is to allow this to continue and anytime outside events are to be staged the whole pool will be drained.
Personally I find that although it is a clever multi-purpose design, the impact of the fountains is lost by having them spread around such a large perimeter.
The fountain is so new that it does not yet show on Google Maps. It's size may be appreciated though because it completely covers the area in between the buildings and has replaced a road that used to run through the area.
Visit Instructions:
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