View Ridge Swim and Tennis Club was established in 1958 as a neighborhood club where families could gather to enjoy swimming, tennis and other activities. A comprehensive renovation was undertaken to replace the existing deteriorating pool and poolhouse and address the varied needs of family/recreational swimming, competitive and fitness swimming, water polo, swim lessons and social activities. The design solution (one of a dozen options) was approved by a 90% majority of the club`s membership and includes a new 4,000-square-foot poolhouse and a 6,000-square-foot outdoor pool.The club’s site is divided by a city street, with existing parking and tennis courts to the north and the existing clubhouse, new pool and new poolhouse to the south. The poolhouse parallels the street, and its simple concrete masonry north façade creates a sense of privacy for club members and swimmers. The sequence of entry from the parking across the street is discrete with only framed glimpses of the pool as one passes an intimate covered entry court and through a breezeway. Check-in and office space are on the west side of the breezeway and locker rooms on the east. A series of columns leads one to the locker rooms entry and also creates a covered area that overlooks the pool. The building is set into the site, which slopes steeply down from the west, allowing mechanical space to be located on a lower level. Textured split-face concrete masonry wall panels surrounded by bands of smooth-face block support the glu-laminated beam roof structure above. The vertical smooth-face bands align with the beams, creating a column-like rhythm on the wall panels. The roof is a simple clerestory form that extends the length of the building with the entry court, breezeway and the locker room entry carved out from below this simple form. The clerestory windows allow daylight to penetrate the office space and the locker rooms. At the locker room entry is the “splash wall,” a random splash-like pattern of aquatic-colored glazed masonry units and glass block – also visible from the showers within the locker rooms. Interjecting the glass block transforms a typically static surface to one that is dynamic, constantly changing on both the interior and exterior depending on the lighting and time of day. The pool creatively accommodates the numerous pool activities in a relatively small footprint. The lap pool has eight lanes for competition and fitness swimming. A shortened water polo court is possible across the width of the deep end. The deep end transitions into an even deeper diving well, which was designed for a future drop slide. A kidney-bean-shaped shallow end accommodates families with beginning swimmers. Bleachers are built into the hill west of the pool and cascade down from the patio outside the existing clubhouse. Additional patio and barbeque space is adjacent to the pool deck on the east side. A sloped grassy area surrounds the pool on its south edge and is used for games, picnics and sunbathing.
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