UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA AQUATIC CENTRE Vancouver / British Columbia / Canada
UBC CAMPUS
PERFORMANCE
COMMUNITY
CAMPUS LIFE
BACKGROUND The four square kilometre UBC Academic Campus is located within the larger University Endowment Lands, 10 km west of downtown on Vancouver’s Point Grey peninsula. The campus’s independence from the city paired with quickly expanding family, faculty, and student neighbourhoods has required it deliver its own municipal services including recreation centres. The Student Precinct is at the historic centre of campus and is the heart of student activities. Unchanged for 25 years it provides student services, administrative and recreational amenities and is the primary transit destination.
DESIGN CHALLENGE
“HOW CAN AN AQUATIC FACILITY EFFECTIVELY TRAIN OLYMPIANS, SERVE ITS COMMUNITY, AND ENHANCE THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE. HOW CAN A FACILITY OPERATE ‘LEARN-TO-SWIM’ PROGRAMS WHILE AT THE SAME TIME RUNNING A 1000 PERSON SWIM MEET?” In 2012, UBC sent more swimmers to the London Summer Games than anywhere in Canada, and had the most successful swim team in the country. Meanwhile the explosive market-driven expansion of the Endowment Lands and burgeoning Campus Community has created the fastest growing youth and family population in the Lower Mainland. The new Aquatic Facility is required to meet the needs of both these groups; a high performance training /competition venue and community aquatic centre within a single facility while engaging the Public Realm and contributing to Campus Life and the Student Experience.
CONTEXT AERIAL 2014
CONTEXT AERIAL 2021
CAMPUS PHASING In parallel with the design of the Aquatic Centre the Student Precinct has undergone a transformative planning exercise, the ‘Gage South Master Plan Study’. The Precinct will be entirely reconfigured over the next 8 years as a series of phased and shifting puzzle pieces, tripling the built area and creating a transformed Student Zone continuing to deliver services and enhance the student experience.
CONTEXT AERIAL 2021
At the centre of this transformation, the new Aquatic facility will define the northern arrival façade of a new Transit Plaza receiving 50% of the student population on a daily basis, this will be the first and last building students see commuting to campus – morning and evening. It will open diagonally to the outdoor social heart of the Student Precinct, McInnes Field, and will frame a north south pedestrian route through campus – ‘Athletes Way’.
PEDESTRIAN BUS
CIRCULATION DIAGRAM
NEW STUDENT RESIDENCES
AQUATIC CENTRE
ATHLETES WAY
CAR
APPROACH TO SITE The siting of the Aquatic Centre responds to the expanse of the transit plaza, the volume of student traffic and key pedestrian circulation and vehicular arrival on site. The building works with the scale of its neighboring buildings to create defined Public Realm spaces on three sides: The south facade of the new Aquatic Centre frames the space of the new Transit Plaza, providing shelter, views and terraced southern seating for Commuters. The west facade, canopy, and glazed corridor parallels a lush garden promenade of mature trees along ‘Athletes Way’. The north facade creates a public viewing passageway and optional programmable exterior activity space.
ATHELTES WAY
EXISTING SUB
NEW SUB (BEYOND)
PUBLIC REAM PROGRAM
BLEACHERS
THE BUILDING INCORPORATES PUBLIC REALM SPACES AROUND THE AQUATIC HALL INTO THE FUNCTIONING OF THE BUILDING. A three sided sloped plane, surrounds the Change Bar and inclines to respond to topography and elevated bleachers. Sloped walkways parallel the enclosure and the shifting envelope creates an ambiguous indoor/outdoor public space allowing for the ample exterior areas to service the interior. Swim Meet spectators can access and travel via the upper terraces, avoiding the lobby and its on-going community programs. Deep soffit areas protect marshalled spectators; broad pathways allow for casual viewing, passage, and unrestricted use of the terraces and bleachers by students. The northern courtyard can be closed for private use, accessible from upper and lower floors of the Aquatic Hall and Student Rec Centre, enabling controlled outdoor event and training space.
SLOPED PLANE
CHANGE ROOMS
PUBLIC REALM
SITE BOUNDARY
TERRACE VIEW
SOUTHWEST VIEW
INTEGRATION OF SUSTAINABLE DESIGN The project is designed to LEED Gold standards, pursuing regenerative neigbourhood goals through integration with new campus infrastructure developments. The project focuses on daylighting and innovative water re-use and indoor air quality strategies that are precedent setting for North American aquatic facilities. Water: A large three compartment cistern stores water from the roof and Transit Plaza. The building will filter the top-up daily evaporative pool basin loss - up to 2” per day, store and reuse treated and conditioned pool water during annual basin maintenance shutdowns, provide grey water flushing, integrate site landscaping, and store 1:200 year store surge. Air: Chloramine carrying air found just above the water’s surface is removed by delivering air from a central bench structure, scouring the water surface and returning within the upper portion of the perimeter pool gutters. Developed in coordination with on-campus doctoral research, this will address Swimmer’s Aesthma and achieve performance enhancing indoor air quality. Light: Continuous ceramic fritted glazing is required on three sides of the Aquatic Hall in conjunction with a central skylight to bring controlled daylight diffusely throughout the plan. Sensors and zoned lighting control responds to natural lighting conditions.
TRANSLUCENT SCREEN
CISTERN
LEISURE POOL
COMPETITION POOL
1 MAIN ENTRANCE 2 LOBBY 3 RECEPTION 4 POOL VIEWING 5 RETAIL 6 ADMIN STAFF 7 AQUATIC SITE PLAN STAFF 8 CHANGE ROOMS CONCOURSE UNIVERSAL CHANGE ROOMS 19 AQUATIC CENTRE 2 TERRACE SITE PLAN 3 STUDENT RECREATION CENTRE 4 CENTRE FUTURE STUDENT HOUSING 1 AQUATIC 5 EXTERIOR SEATING 2 TERRACE 6 RECREATION BUS LOOP CENTRE 3 STUDENT 7 STUDENT MCINNES FIELD 4 FUTURE HOUSING 8 STUDENT 5 EXTERIOR SEATING UNION BUILDING 9 ATHLETES WAY 6 BUS LOOP 7 MCINNES FIELD 8 STUDENT UNION BUILDING 9 ATHLETES WAY
SITE PLAN
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
CHA LAP LEIS HYD COM WET POO SPEC MEC
GROUNDFLOOR FLOORPLAN PLAN GROUND 11 22 33 44 55 66 77 88 99
MAINENTRANCE ENTRANCE 10 CHANGE CHANGEROOMS ROOMS MAIN 10 LOBBY 11 LAP LAPPOOL POOL 11 LOBBY RECEPTION 12 LEISURE LEISUREPOOL POOL GROUND FLOOR PLAN 12 RECEPTION GROUND FLOOR PLAN13 HYDROTHERAPY POOLVIEWING VIEWING 13 HYDROTHERAPY POOL 10 CHANGE RETAIL 1 MAIN ENTRANCE 14 COMPETITION POOLROOMS RETAIL 1 MAIN ENTRANCE14 COMPETITION 10POOL CHANGE ROOMS 2 LOBBY 11 LAP POOL ADMINSTAFF STAFF 15 WET WETCLASSROOM CLASSROOM 15 ADMIN 2 LOBBY 11 LAPPOOL POOL 3 STAFF RECEPTION 12 LEISURE AQUATIC STAFF 16 POOL STORAGE 16 POOL STORAGE AQUATIC 3 VIEWING RECEPTION 12 LEISURE POOL 4ROOMS POOL 13 HYDROTHERAPY CHANGE ROOMS CONCOURSE 17 SPECTATOR LOUNGE 17 SPECTATOR LOUNGE CHANGE CONCOURSE 4 POOL VIEWING 13 HYDROTHERAPY 5 RETAIL 14 COMPETITION POOL UNIVERSAL CHANGE ROOMS 18 MECHANICAL MECHANICAL PENTHOUSE 18 UNIVERSAL CHANGE ROOMS 5 RETAIL 14PENTHOUSE COMPETITION POOL 6 ADMIN STAFF 15 WET CLASSROOM 6 ADMIN STAFF 15 WET CLASSROOM 7 AQUATIC STAFF 16 POOL STORAGE 7 AQUATIC STAFF 16 POOL STORAGE 8 CHANGE ROOMS CONCOURSE 17 SPECTATOR LOUNGE 8 CHANGE ROOMS CONCOURSE 17 SPECTATOR LOUNGE 9 UNIVERSAL CHANGE ROOMS 18 MECHANICAL PENTHOUSE 9 UNIVERSAL CHANGE ROOMS 18 MECHANICAL PENTHOUSE
GROUND FLOOR PLAN
AQUATIC CENTRE PROGRAMMING The Aquatic Centre is divided north south into four program bars: 1. Lobby & Changeroom, 2. Community Aquatics, 3. Competition Aquatics, and 4. Bleachers. Daylight is used as the organizing device and separater for the two aquatic halls. A “Y� shaped bank of columns supports a continuous 6m wide skylight running the length of the aquatic hall, splitting the Leisure and Competition Halls. A translucent screen creates a luminescent virtual barrier between the two principal spaces, offering controllability of the space to effectively operate divergent aquatic functions simultaneously. The registration of changerooms allow for functioning for a variety of programming simultaneously. The male and female changerooms can be designated exclusively for Competition Events located in closest proximity to the starting end of the competition pool, whereas the Universal change room can function for on-going use of the Leisure and training basins by the community.
LEISURE SWIMMING POOL
VIEW OF COMPETITION POOL LOOKING WEST
AQUATIC LEISURE HALL
MJMA & Acton Ostry Architects Copyright Š 2017 by MJMA & Acton Ostry Architects All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission from the publisher is strictly prohibited. For more information on this project, please contact: Amanda Chong T: 416-593-6796 ext 245 E: achong@mjma.ca www.mjma.ca
&