By Daily Press staff
The architect who designed Santa Monica’s swimming pool has been recognized for its contribution to the community.
Killefer Flammang Architects, a Los Angeles-based firm, was recently awarded the 2002 Community Enrichment Award by the Southern California Development Forum for designing a facility that “addresses community needs and creates a festival ambiance in a facility that ordinarily is only concerned with functionality.”
Surrounded by palm trees and a glazed brick tile wall, the $7-million center includes a recreational pool and a 50-meter Olympic sized fitness pool with a three-meter high diving board. On an upper level is a sun deck and a viewing platform.
The firm’s design principal Wade Killefer and project designer Markku Kari designed the 50,000-square-foot facility so it would invite people in from Santa Monica College’s sports stadium and nearby neighborhoods.
The old pool was in the center of the SMC campus, which caused confusion among some resident who wondered whether it was open to them, Killefer said.
“When the 1994 earthquake collapsed a parking structure within the western perimeter of the campus, it became apparent that the parking and pool should swap places so that the new swim center could be readily visible to the entire community,” he said.
Designed to last 75 years, the building is built of glazed concrete masonry to withstand weather and graffiti. The material is laid in a stacked bond to accentuate a vertical rhythm along the 400-foot long street facade, Killefer said. The architects also utilized QUILITE panels, whose impact resistance, the manufacturer says, is over 200 times greater than glass and also is graffiti resistant.
Julie Rusk, manager of the city’s human services division, said the two pools, which can accommodate 900 swimmers, contain almost 1 million gallons and has a state-of-the-art sanitation system. Law mandates that certain animals be allowed into businesses By Daily Press staff
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 23, 2003. Read the original PDF.