This three-story, 98,500 square feet recreation center and natatorium with a 7,000 person capacity contains three pools, including a 50 meter pool, and a control room for swim meets. Both floors of workout equipment are visible from the spacious, skylit public lobby. Also included are a multi-purpose room, snack bar, campus shop, gymnasium, fitness areas, locker rooms and ancillary spaces. The building is constructed of concrete and steel frame with masonry and glass walls. The complex mechanical system includes heat recovery system requirements which recycle pool water through a sophisticated filtration system. Computer monitors continually balance pool chemicals. Unique to the project was the limited university staging and sensitivity to surrounding academic buildings. Additional project specific characteristics of the University of Virginia location included rock excavation and extensive formed concrete.

Location: Alderman and Whitehead Roads
University of Virginia campus

Owner: University of Virginia

Architect: The Hughes Group

Contract Amount: $14,280,925

Completion Date: April 1, 1996