Wednesday January 7th 2026
Portobello Swim Centre
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Joe Sullivan
A swim centre in an Edinburgh neighbourhood is set to be refurbished after a contract award was announced.
Public contract tender information shows Edinburgh Council is seeking bidders to refit the Victorian-era swim centre in Portobello, at an estimated cost of £7.5m.
The complex was built in 1898, and features two swimming pools and a gym, along with a Turkish bath which opened in 1981.
According to the tender, the works will include the movement of the gym from the ground floor to the first floor, where it will overlook both swimming pools.
The new gym site will take the place of the fitness studios which currently use the space on the second floor.
A new studio space will be established somewhere ‘centrally located’ in the swim centre, though the documents do not specify where.
In addition, more poolside cubicles will be installed, as well as ‘reconfiguration of circulation routes’ for users of the centre.
Power, lighting, and other building services will also be upgraded as part of the works.
The Turkish baths, the only ones in Edinburgh, are one of only 11 still operational in the UK, and three in Scotland.
However, the tender does not spell out any refurbishment works for them.
Three rooms with progressively increasing levels of heat are available, with visitors having an hour and 45 minutes to work their way through them.
They have long been used to provide rest and relaxation to visitors, offering similar benefits to a sauna.
Despite the name, the Victorian Turkish bath first appeared in Ireland in the 1850s, bearing some differences to other hot-air baths with a similar name.
However, most baths called Turkish baths evolved from Roman-era public baths, with all sharing the use of hot air.
A range of other pools were opened across the capital in the Victorian era, with a number still open, including in Leith, Dalry and Marchmont.
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