Project Description
A Joint Venture Project: ELS Architecture and Urban Design and Kuth Ranieri Architects.
In a joint venture with ELS Architecture and Urban Design, the design for Balboa Park Pool renovates the existing natatorium facilities in an economic way, leaving essential elements in place while enhancing the user experience and upgrading the structural and environmental systems to meet sustainable standards of performance.
The design reaches LEED Silver – equivalent and increases the programming capacity of pool services by reconfiguring the locker rooms and administrative spaces, carving out space for a new community room. The building is more deeply connected to the suburban context by redesigning the parking area to improve traffic flow, drop-off area, and meet ADA compliance. A new civic threshold is created by defining a clear point of entry with a canopy and by integrating discreet landscape and lighting elements. Rebuilding the entry ramp and interior spaces allow for ADA compliance from the entry throughout the building. The rehabilitated pool preserves the qualities of the original 1957 building, while thoughtfully and respectfully adding to the building to make it a vital resource for the building to make it a vital resource for the community for years to come.
Photography by Bruce Damonte