The project involves the design of a public olympic pool for the expansion of an existing swimming program of the Municipality of Humacao, Puerto Rico. It is located in an unfinished parking lot serving a newly developed Coliseum to the north, with a water creek bordering from south to west, and to the west, a newly inaugurated Fine Arts Center. With a 1000+ people capacity, longevity and minimal budget were the client's primary concerns, as is typical of public architecture developments throughout the country. As a result, most spaces employ natural ventilation, with the exception of the gym and small offices, and the principal surface finish is exposed concrete. However, we strived to propose a contemporary solution, with precast elements and the aid of pattern-generating algorithms.
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With a simple program composed primarily of an olympic pool and visitor stands with capacity for hosting competitions, the Humacao Aquatic Complex is to establish an emblematic presence and at the same time a dialogue between its public plaza and the Coliseum across the street, which is 8 times bigger in size and capacity. The complex also houses small offices, a cafeteria, separate public and athletes' bathrooms, a gym, and a machine room.
Given the nature of the program and the surrounding creek, water was used as the main theme for the scheme manifested at different levels and scales throughout the spatial experience of the project. Concrete grand stands covered by a 35 feet cantilevered concrete roof govern the program and below which all supporting facilities occur. Precast panels cover the building's body, perforated with parametrically developed patterns of circles of various diameters to allow cross ventilation and are placed randomly to allow a continuous reading. Meanwhile the base is made-up of repetitive slim precast elements also closely spaced, allowing a continuous reading, cross ventilation, security, and as a result of the narrow gap between them, a sense of visual discovery while approaching the building. A large red sign that reads "swimming" (natación) has been incorporated to the base to reinforce this discovery process, and as a promotional and recruiting effort for the locally not-so-popular sport among transients.
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