Relevance of a Swimming pool in an Apartment complex

With the level of competition gaining extreme proportions, developers of apartment projects in any major city in India are seen competing among each other to outdo others in terms of providing as many amenities as possible to their residents. As a result, they are seeking to implement more innovations into their projects so as to attract more prospective buyers to their projects. While these innovative inclusions in terms of amenities are mostly relegated to luxury apartment projects, one feature that is commonly included in most apartment projects is a swimming pool. However, there has been much debate about the necessity of a swimming pool and its utility to its residents.

Differing view points

While most apartment complex residents in metro cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore consider a swimming pool as a status symbol there was a slightly different opinion expressed by residents in other major cities like Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune and Kochi. Residents in metro cities with higher disposable incomes would like to purchase an apartment which has the maximum number of facilities that are included in a project that comes within their budget. The utility of the facility is of secondary importance due to time constraints and other hurdles. However, with regards to residents in smaller cities, the pool was considered a facility that could be make use of frequently, especially by children. This was specially felt to be important during summer vacations when children could beat the heat and engage in some ‘fun’ time by being in the pool.

Survey opinions

Since the construction of a swimming pool takes up a considerable amount of space, developers need to ensure that the facility serves the purpose adequately to all residents who may be interested in using the facility. It is in this context that the facility falls short of expectations as far as its utility is concerned. A survey was recently undertaken across major cities to gauge the opinion of residents of apartment complexes regarding the utility of a swimming pool. In the survey, about 40 per cent of the respondents felt that a swimming pool was not so important in an apartment complex while 20 per cent felt that it was not needed at all.

While being quizzed further with regards to the unpopularity of this facility among adults, one of the major reasons cited was that it was not used frequently. As many as 50 per cent of the respondents said that they used the facility only once a month. Another 30 per cent used the pool only once a week or a couple of times a week, during weekends. However, since most of the residents who used the pool used them during weekends they would more often than not be crowded preventing them from using the facility adequately.

Steps to be taken

Most of the female respondents felt that the privacy factor acted as a deterrent from using the facility especially in apartment complexes where there is only a single facility for all its residents. Since a swimming pool is used by adults, both men and women, as well as children, developers need to ensure that they have separate facilities for these three categories to make sure that the residents make optimum use of it. Even if they have only a single facility, separate timings for males and females need to be enforced. Besides, there should be a separate shallow pool for small children, with a trained security personnel around the pool at all times to ensure against any mishaps. Besides, the cleanliness of the pool should also be ensured by frequent chlorination and removal of dust and other particles.