The construction of these swimming pools comes from a programme launched in 1969  and led by Joseph Comiti, the Secretary of State for Youth, Sports, and Leisure under the title "1000 Piscines" which was an idea conceived as a result of the poor showing by the French Olympic team of summer 1968 in an attempt to encourage French people to go swimming and produce the next generation of elite swimmers. 

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The purpose of the program was to promote swimming on a national level following that disappointing 1968 Summer Olympics and also due to the two accidents in 1969 that resulted in the deaths of 43 children.

Between 600 and 700 pools were built in 5 styles (Iris, Sky, Sun, Duck, and Sunflower). The Sunflower style edged out the others, winning two design competitions.

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Subsequntly a national programme of building got underway between 1975 and 1982 where all across France these swimming pools popped up.

The one photographed here is the typical 'Tournesol' [sunflower] type and was the most common - if somewhat not that aesthetically pleasing.

The Sunflower pool was the design of architect Bernard Schoeller with Thémis Constantinidis as engineer. The dome had polyester tiles and consisted of 36 metal arches with twelve being retractable which allowed the pool to be opened up at an angle of 120° during the summer. One of the arches had 7 portholes, which contributed to the somewhat space-age appearance of the design.

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Out of the 250 Sunflower pools that were planned, 183 were built  and there were two designs: one for 25 m pools and another for 50 m pools.

The roofs were 6 m tall and opened 120° hence the sunflower name, which, weather permitting, allowed the pools to function as semi-outdoor pools particularly in summer.

Municipalities were given the opportunity to build a standard swimming pool at a modest cost. There were several types were design used in the 183 pools built, but the “tournesol” type was the most popular. 

They proved very popular at the time but soon fell out of fashion and became redundant in favour of more practically designed swimming pols and leisure centres across France. Since their closures, they remain dormant merely attracting curious onlookers and their cameras [like me!].

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When we visited, the vandalism was apparent immediately especially the garish graffiti tags all over the interior. I've managed to make some disappear with editing but some remain in the images [unfortunately]. Also the yellow changing rooms were not present.​​​​​