Brussels has had no open-air swimming pool since Flow closed. But that could finally be about to change: a tender for an outdoor pool in Anderlecht is set to be launched before the summer, with construction planned for 2029. A welcome glimmer of hope for Brussels residents looking to cool off.
An outdoor pool on the roof of the Manufakture, at the Anderlecht abattoir
The most advanced project is located on the abattoir site in Anderlecht. The future outdoor pool would sit on the roof of the Manufakture building, the new food hub currently under construction on the site. The idea isn’t new: it has been circulating since 2021, but the dossier which involves the Brussels government, the Flemish Community Commission (VGC) and the municipality of Anderlecht dragged on for a long time.
Now things are moving faster. State Secretary for Urban Renewal Ans Persoons (Vooruit) has told Bruzz that the tender will be launched before the summer, once approved by the Brussels government. It will take the form of a DBFM contract (Design, Build, Finance, Maintain), a public-private partnership model in which a private operator is responsible for designing, building, financing and maintaining the facility.
The timeline still stretches over several years, however: the contract is expected to be awarded in 2028, and the ambition is to start building the pool before spring 2029 — still within the current legislative term. Open-air swimming enthusiasts will therefore need to wait a few more summers before taking the plunge.
“The city is only getting hotter, so this project is becoming more and more important,” Persoons stresses, recalling that Vooruit has always treated the dossier as a priority.
Brussels, a capital without an open-air pool
In hot weather, an open-air dip is a welcome promise of freshness. The problem is that Brussels has suffered for years from a severe shortage of open-air swimming spots. In 2018, the Océade water park at the Heysel closed its doors. And in May of last year, Flow, the pop-up pool set up along the canal embankment in Anderlecht bowed out in turn. Since then, there has been no open-water swimming site left anywhere in the Brussels-Capital Region.
On the Flemish side, the government has just recognised ten new open-water swimming zones for the 2026 season. The closest one for Brussels residents remains the IJsevijver in Overijse but that doesn’t change the bottom line: there is still no option within the Brussels Region itself.
Projects under consideration, but still stalled
The Manufakture dossier isn’t the only one on the table. Several other open-air swimming projects are being studied, but for now all remain on hold for various reasons.
Last year, the ambitious 350-metre outdoor pool project at the Quai des Péniches (Akenkaai), in the City of Brussels, was scrapped as too expensive. It had even been nicknamed “the Hofstade of Brussels,” but the financing never came together. A scaled-down version is still being studied, though: the City of Brussels and the regional government, together with the Port of Brussels, are still examining the possibility of setting up a supervised swimming zone in the canal. Brussels Sports Alderwoman Florence Frelinx (MR) confirms the ambition without committing to a timeline: a study is underway with the Port of Brussels, to be followed by a call for projects involving the private sector.
Also in Anderlecht, the swimming pond project at Neerpede is stuck before the Council of State, following opposition from neighbourhood groups.
Finally, a swimming zone is being considered on the Pasteur site in Uccle. Acting Mayor Valentine Delwart (MR) says this dossier is “still under study.”
In short: a little more patience
There is no shortage of projects to bring open-air swimming spots back to Brussels. The big question is whether Brussels politics will manage, over the coming years, to turn these plans into genuinely accessible pools. The Manufakture project in Anderlecht is currently the most concrete, with a tender expected before the summer and construction targeted for 2029. In the meantime, you’ll have to keep looking for somewhere else to cool off.
