Mordi Aquatic Centre

The key elements of the new centre include:

• Four pools (50m multi-purpose lap swimming pool, learn to swim pool, warm water exercise pool, and leisure pool).
• Spa, sauna, and steam room.
• Gym and fitness facilities.
• Café.
• Ancillary services such as foyer, change village and car parking.

In 2024, Council resolved to manage the new Mordi Aquatic Centre in-house, alongside Waves Leisure Centre. This means many familiar faces will continue to welcome you at both sites!

A major recruitment program will roll out in late 2025 and into 2026 to support the new centre’s operations. To stay in the loop, sign up at Kingston’s Careers page.

We know that parking is really important to our users, and experienced traffic consultants were engaged to ensure we have adequate parking available. There will be 179 car parks onsite including:

• 8 Accessible (disabled) parking bays
• 10 EV charging car parks
• 2 drop off and pick up spaces at the front entry.

The Governor Rd/Wells Rd site is approximately a 15min walk from the Mordialloc train station.

There are also two bus services that run along Governor Rd, with a stop at Jack Grut Reserve. This is the 705 and 708 bus services.

Better path connections from the bus stop to the centre will be incorporated into the landscaping works.

Yes, Council engaged with the Bunurong Land Council to prepare a Cultural Heritage Management Plan to ensure that both the design and construction of the new facility appropriately recognises the strong cultural connections at the site.

• The 50m pool is 1.1m in the shallow end and 1.6m in the deep end 
• The warm water pool is 1.1m in the shallow end and 1.5m in the deep end 
• The learn to swim pool is 0.8m in the shallow end and 1m in the deep end and 
• The leisure pool has a beach entry at zero depth with a gentle incline to 1m deep in the swimming play area.

Large scale water slides that are sometimes found at very large aquatic facilities are not included at Mordi, however a small water slide for children will be provided in the leisure pool.

At Mordi, amenities within the new centre have been prioritised, and a standard sauna has been included to suit the general community. Although the sauna will not be infrared, it will be fitted out with two Tylöhelo Magma 260 26kw floor mounted sauna heaters.

Infrared saunas are available at neighbouring private centres.

While there are no plunge pools at Mordi, the warm water pool hall has 3 concourse showers you can set to cold water to cool down.

The new centre will be fully electric with no gas heating and is designed to exceed 2022 National Construction Code standards. 

Sustainability features include: 

• 330kW solar panel system 
• Rainwater harvesting for toilets and pool top-ups 
• Water-sensitive rain gardens 
• Enhanced indoor air quality and natural light 
• High-performance insulation and glazing 
• Automated external blinds and airtight design to reduce heat loss 
• E-water cleaning systems (no chemicals) 
• 10 EV charging stations, with 40% of parking EV-ready 
• 50% more bike parking than required 
• 90% recycling target for construction waste 

Yes. The new centre has been designed for all-abilities access and rehabilitation, with features including:

• A purpose-built warm water pool for therapy and rehabilitation 
• Accessible entry ramps from the carpark and Jack Grut Reserve 
• Eight accessible parking spaces close to the main entrance 
• Multiple accessible change rooms, showers, and a Changing Places facility 
• Direct access from change rooms to pools, with walk-in and wheelchair ramp entries 
• A supervised Learn to Swim pool with hoist access 
• Leisure Play Pool with beach-style walk-in entry 
• A large lift (hospital stretcher size) to Level 1 with space for wheelchairs and carers
• Accessible change rooms for gym and group program users on Level 1

The project value is $87.5m and is joint funded by the City of Kingston and the Australian Government, who have committed $20m towards the project.

In 2022, we invited the community to register their interest to be part of a Community Reference Group (CRG) to provide their local perspectives as we plan for the new Aquatic & Leisure Centre. We received over 148 responses.

People who registered their interest were selected based on a set of demographic criteria plus their experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds.

Twenty-five reference group members were selected by an external consultant (Deliberately Engaging) to ensure a representative sample of typical users of an aquatic and leisure facility were selected.

Our panel

• 12 Female
• 11 Male
• 1 Non-binary
• 1 Prefer not to say

Their ages

• 18-24 - 2 people
• 25-34 - 6 people
• 35-49 - 7 people
• 50-59 - 4 people
• 60-69 - 4 people
• 70+ - 2 people

Their location

• Aspendale 1 (4%)
• Aspendale Gardens 4 (16%)
• Chelsea Heights 1 (4%)
• Clarinda 1 (4%)
• Dingley Village 1 (4%)
• Edithvale 3 (12%)
• Heatherton 1 (4%)
• Mentone 3 (12%)
• Mordialloc 5 (20%)
• Parkdale 4 (16%)
• Waterways 1 (4%)

Their experiences

• 16% have a disability / care for someone with a disability
• 8% identify as LGBTIQA+
• 20% speak a language other than English at home
• 24% are culturally and linguistically diverse
• 8% don’t use the pool or aquatic centre
• 48% are lap swimmers
• 44% use a pool for recreation
• 12% attend aquatic fitness classes
• 60% use the pool for relaxation or rehabilitation purposes
• 12% attend learn to swim classes
• 40% are a parent or guardian of a learn to swim participant
• 44% are gym users
• 28% attend group fitness classes

The CRG will learn about all sorts of factors associated with developing a new aquatic and leisure centre, discuss them with one another, and then offer feedback to help guide Council’s decision-making process.

We look forward to sharing updates and highlights of upcoming CRG meetings with our community. Watch our video showcasing why our members put their hand up for the challenge and what they are hoping to achieve.