JESSE OWENS POOL

The 18,000 sq. ft. Jesse Owens Pool facility received an Achievement Award in fall 2007 from the Los Angeles County Regional Park and Open Space District.  This award program recognizes and celebrates exceptional projects in the district. In designing the project, BOA Architecture (San Pedro, California) decided that a curved roof form over the pool would be more graceful than a conventional box. They selected metal “B” deck and roofing because of the benefits of low maintenance and long life.

The decking manufacturer (ASC Steel Deck) recommended using Curveline’s crimp-curving process for the roof deck. The Curveline process creates a structural deck which is very strong but also aesthetically appealing, an important factor since the decking panels remain exposed on the underside. The panels are post-painted white, and sound baffles are used for acoustic control.

According to the award commentary, the project has several advantages over the old structure that it replaced: (1) It is completely ADA compliant; (2) The design allows the staff to be centrally located to monitor activity in the building for increased safety; (3) It takes advantage of natural lighting through the use of glass block walls; and (4) There are open spaces on the roof for natural ventilation, to save electricity and reduce the corrosive effects of evaporated chlorine on the building.