By Zavian Camacho
Builders renovating commercial aquatic facilities are looking for ways to help them attract patrons. This often means looking for ways to create a “waterpark” feel around the pool. Rock work can immediately give an aquatic facility a waterpark feel, but rather than wrangling real stones and boulders, builders using artificial rock can build structures much larger and safer. They also have the ability to design and build in a much more controlled way. There are many ways to use artificial rock, for example, around slides, climbing walls, or as other entertaining water features to inspire some “waterpark wow” at any size aquatic facility.
Slides
Thanks to new manufacturer offerings, combining cast-concrete artificial rocks with slides is the perfect way to fill the space around and below a slide, making it feel more “integrated” into the aquatic facility while also covering unsightly slide support columns. Glass fibre reinforced concrete (GFRC) panels are a great way to cover unattractive support columns under waterslides. GFRC panels are particularly well-suited to filling the space behind, under, and around the slide structure. Longer, waterpark-style slides need support columns along the length of the slide. These columns are usually created with cinder blocks or concrete columns that can be unattractive. The GFRC panels are simply bolted together around the slide structure to cover these support columns.
Due to the simplicity of bolting the cast-concrete panels together, covering the area around the slide takes a fraction of the time it would take if using real rock. Manufacturers now also provide systems to create rock staircases for swimmers to get to the top as well. Some builders even create storage areas with doors under slides to maximize this space.
Depending on the height and length of the slide, GFRC panels can cover a lot of surface area much faster than trying to use real boulders and rocks. One of the greatest benefits of these rocks and panels is they weigh much less than real rock. Despite the lighter weight, artificial rocks are made of concrete and reinforced with rebar; they are not made of foam. These steel-reinforced rocks are structurally sound but weigh about one-fifth less than real boulders. Weight and structural engineering ensure against collapsing decks or rocks sliding into the pool. In fact, cast-concrete artificial rocks are structurally superior and cost approximately half the price of natural stone. This makes them an attractive option not just for builders, but also for aquatic facility budgets.
