Griggs Bathhouse
- Discipline
- Landscape Architecture
- Semester
- Autumn 2014
- Course
- Design Studio VI
- designer
- Abrams, Torrance
- faculty
- Boswell, Jacob
- Location
- Columbus, Franklin, Ohio, United States, NA
- Description
- The purpose for this project was to design with water as an agent. Our task throughout the semester was to study water properties, water machines, Columbus City Pools, choose a site, and design. The challenge was to design pools. Currently in Columbus there are public pools, mostly outdoor and one indoor. The site chosen was Griggs Reservoir. Our design addressed some water program that Columbus has not addressed. The design of our site is composed of three main areas, above the dam, the spine of the dam, and below the dam. The site is a space that allows visitors to have a different swimming experience in Columbus. Extruding from the bath house on the upper level of the dam is a floating pool and a floating dock. These spaces allow for different swimming experiences. People can relax in the main pool and grab a drink from the swim up bar or they could venture off to the furthest swim area to swim laps and dive from the diving docks. Connected to the floating dock is a boat dock. This space is for small boats, such as, canoes, kayaks, and row boats. This works great because there is a row team that practices at Griggs Reservoir. From the spine of the dam a bath house was constructed. Currently Columbus doesn't have a bath house, so this provides new program not only to the site but to Columbus. The building offers a variety of pools that very in temperature and size. There are water machines the influenced the footprint of the building, which can be experienced by the visitors by walking through the building. There are large water intakes that filter water through a series of sand filters and water aeration spouts. The pools are then heated by heat coils and generators. Access heat and steam from inside the bath house are moved through pipes to heat the arrival plaza in cold seasons. The access steam is also used to provide water mist on the plaza during the hot seasons. To vamp up Columbus Parks we have introduced a highly programmed walking trail on the lower part of the dam. There will be wetlands, raised walkways, an ice skating rink, an outlook and fishing dock, and connection to an island. The island will have a sand beach with a directed view to a water wall (the dam). The water wall is designed to help with cleaning the water through aeration. This is achieved by constructing a new dam facade that protrudes outward allowing water to fall at a different angle and capture air as it falls. This is different from the current conditions, because water falling on the dam's smooth facade does not provide this. The new facade will have a water screen for showing movies on special nights.