Washington Community Swim Center wins Project of the Year from American Public Works Association (APWA) Silicon Valley's 2022 Awards Program, in the category of Structures between $5 million to $25 million. The APWA Awards Program recognizes outstanding projects and professionals who provide and maintain the infrastructure and services collectively known as public works.
This award-winning project represents the complete replacement of the City of Sunnyvale's beloved Washington Community Swim Center, where generations of residents have learned to swim. Universal accessibility and programming were two key project objectives.
With several aquatic facilities across both the City of Sunnyvale and neighboring cities, each addressing a specific set of community needs, the goal of the Washington Community Swim Center was to promote the life-saving skill of swimming and its associated health benefits by providing families with swim lessons, lap swim, recreational swimming, water play, and therapeutic uses programming so that all members of the family, from toddlers to seniors, could be engaged at their own level at the same time as well as providing rentable spaces for community use for social and educational activities. The design sought to achieve these goals in a way that maximized the connection of the aquatic complex to the park and reduced the building footprint to reduce costs without sacrificing the desired functionality. Creating roof alignments that maximize solar exposure and installing a photovoltaic system to help offset some of the energy costs to run and maintain the pool year-round factored into the building design efficiency.
Additionally, it was important to the City to integrate public art into civic projects. From early in the design process, a series of meetings were held with representatives of the neighborhood and the art commission to select an artist and to provide guidance to the artist on the desired theme of the artwork. The community chose to retain the "Under the Sea" theme of the original facility, and the artist designed a frieze for the main building entry as well as sculptures in the landscaping according to this theme. The design team and the City worked closely with the selected artist through construction to ensure that his artistic vision was truly integrated into the overall facility design and that the execution reflected the vision.
Washington Community Swim Center is making life better for the community it serves. There is truly something at this pool for all ages and all abilities. Congratulations to the City of Sunnyvale and the project team for their collaborative spirit and project design excellence. Our shared commitment to Passion for Place® pushes the limits of innovative facilities design for our communities.
About American Public Works Association
APWA Silicon Valley Chapter's Public Works Projects and Individuals was established to promote excellence in the management and administration of public works by recognizing the alliance between the managing agency, the consultant/architect/engineer, and the contractor who, working together, successfully complete public works projects. In addition, we recognize individuals who have demonstrated their dedication and commitment to excellence in public works.
