Sport City - The Great Park Aquatics Center - 4th Year Spring 2021

Scan Me for the Video

The Great Park Aquatics Center Video: https://youtu.be/xFyIzm0csNI

Students: Alenoosh Mardroosian Jun Dinh Natalie Simba Roman Huante

Site Plan. Far

Site Plan

The Great Park Aquatics Center

This Aquatic Center is designed to be integrated into the urban environment of Irvine, in Orange County, California. The site is accessible by public transportation on the northeast and by a nearby parking on the southwest. The facility houses a variety of water sports, such as competition swimming, diving, water polo, and deep-water solo climbing which is a combination of rock climbing and diving. The aquatic center is a place for athletes, spectators, and recreational visitors alike looking for a fun afternoon by the poolside.

Outdoor facilities include active programs such as the competitive lap swimming pool, competitive diving and deep water solo climbing pool, lap swimming training pool, spectator seating, recreational deep water solo climbing walls, recreational swimming areas, and lounging areas. Outdoor space has been maximized for the wellness of occupants.

Indoor facilities include essential functional program for athletes and visitors such as changing rooms, lockers, and showers. Given the mild climate of Orange County, this building has been sustainably designed with most of its program outdoors.

The Great Park Aquatics Center is a unique combination of recreational and competitive aquatic activities, including a style of rock climbing known as deep water solo climbing. A sense of unity and engagement between these activities is highlighted by an exciting multifunctional roof structure.

Top: View from the Street at Sunset

Building Plan

The Great Park Aquatic Center is designed to serve its community by providing sustainable recreational and athletic facilities. The athletic facilities have been designed according FINA regulations. Additionally, in an Olympic level setting such as Los Angeles 2028, the competitive lap swimming pool can accomodate extra temporary seating in the north side of the competition area. In its legacy, the athletic facilities will continue to serve as training and competition facilities for local athletes, such as the USA water polo team with its headquarters in Irvine.Located in the heart of Irvine, the Great Park Aquatic Center is within close driving distance of its surrounding community, reducing carbon emissions from travel. The facility itself offsets its carbon emissions with the implentation of photovoltaic solar arrays on its roof as well as solar thermal heaters that can directly transfer heat into the pools. The Great Park Aquatic Center is designed to thrive on the climate conditions of its site in Orange County, California. With comfortable year round weather conditions, the recreational and competitive swimming areas have been placed outdoors. For sun protection, the competitive area has been covered with a permanent space frame shade structure while the recreational areas have mobile umbrella shading devices. By choosing to take advantage of outdoor spaces, this building substantially eliminates the need for air conditioning thus saving energy, emissions, and maintenance cost. Additionally, the elimination of conditioned spaces also makes the area more safe for Covid-19 scenarios by allowing cross ventilation. The Great Park Aquatic Center supports the social fabric of Irvine by providing a local hub for team based sports and communal spaces for leisure.It supports the health, well-being, and active living of a diverse group of users by providing accessible opportunities to athletic and recreational facilities.It is also adaptable to the consequences of climate change by providing shade structures natural ventilation, and self sustaining systems of energy conservation.

Top: Public Space for the Surrounding Comunity

Envelope

Structure

Primary Structural Members

Columns

Secondary Structural Members

Foundations

Exploded Structural Isometrics

Structure Diagram

Roof Closeup

Athletics

BOH Program

Athletics Deep Water Solo

Diving

Deep Water Solo

BOH Program Practice Pool

Lap Swimming

Recreation and Deep Water Solo

Recreation and Deep Water Solo

Entry Recreation and Deep Water Solo

Recreation Swimming

Recreation and Deep Water Solo

Recreation Swimming

Central Track

Entry

Parti as a Perspective Vignette Along the entrance promenade, visitors can catch a glimpse of each of the aquatic programs. This particular moment provided a driving inspiration for the project.

Roof Outline

BOH Program

Circulation

Aquatic Program

Central Track

Site Programming Strategy Roof Outline

BOH Program

Circulation

Aquatic Program

Site Programming Strategy

The facility was designed based on two key ideas:

Level 3 Level 3

The first is a plan organization where a central bar of program provides back of house necessities for the public, athletes, administrators, and recreational visitors.

Level 2 Level 2

The second key idea is to create an exceptional experience for the visitors as they walk toward the building. Along this elevated promenade, visitors can catch a glimpse of aquatic activities below such as recreational swimming and deep-water solo climbing.

The roof of the Sports City Aquatics Center is designed to respond to the programs within.

It does so through the utilization of a space frame which provides the ability to create an undulating surface that responds to height requirements and hierarchy of the program.

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Spectator Circulation Spectator Circulation

Recreation Circulation Recreation Circulation

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Administrator Circulation Administrator Circulation

Building Programming Strategy Building Programming Strategy Recreation Circulation Recreation Circulation

Concept Diagrams

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           

           

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 SECOND FLOOR PLAN

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2nd Floor

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                 

                 

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         

         

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4th Floor

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   

Top: East West Section Bottom: North South Section

Roof drain Aluminum Roof System

Steel Space-framing

Main Structural Frame

Panelized aluminum cladding system Interior Finish

Steelwork following curvature of roof and ceiling

Gutter top grill

Concrete Foundation Vertical reinforcement

Section Drawings

The East West section runs through the lap swimming, diving, and training pools. Here, you can see how the floor and the roof undulate to respond to height requirements for each activity. Natural ligt is provided through the roof to light up the competitive area. We have also provided structural detail diagrams. The space frame structure is cladded in four different materials.

The roof is cladded in panelized aluminum for ease of formability, lightness, water resistance, and shade. Apertures puncture this aluminum cladding to provide light wells for the space below. The interior is cladded in semi transparent polycarbonate panels for expression of the structure and diffusion of light from the light wells.

The legs are cladded in steel mesh to suggest their outer form while providing ventilation. The wire mesh also help to reduce the direct sunlight from the south but still provide the view from the outside. We found this to be useful because it reduces the need for air conditioning and it also provides a safe environment for COVID-19 precautions. The rock walls at the base of the legs are made of cementitious panels.

Section Detail

Top: Exterior Render Bottom: Recreation Activities

Top: Vetical Circulation view Bottom: Spectators’ view

Top: View from Diving Platform Bottom: View from Outdoor Waiting

Top: Competition Swiming Bottom: Seating