Maintaining your balance on the facility design tightrope.

Designing and constructing a recreation center can be one of the most rewarding events in the life of a park authority or recreation department. It is an opportunity to deliver a service which enhances the lives of users and, in the case of civic groups, presents one of the most positive, tangible means for people to touch their government or association.

When designing an aquatic center, the first step is selecting an architect. While the procedure may be straightforward, establishing and verifying objective criteria is critical. Three criteria should form the foundation for your search:

* Experience: Determine how many successful aquatics facilities the firm has designed of a similar size and scope to the one proposed.

* Capability: Evaluate the level of technical expertise of the team and individuals and how will they organize and apply their capabilities to your project.

* Character: Character is most apparent in the interview phase when attitude, commitment and strength will determine how well you will work together as a team.

As the owner of your proposed facility, you will be the control point of the entire design process. Your architects, engineers, contractors, programmers, and staff all ultimately look to you to make the key decisions, which require a balance of cost, energy and design.

Cost Control

Effectively managing the costs and schedule of your aquatic center is the first priority in the balancing equation. Managing the cost/time equation is not a mystery; there are no wires and mirrors--there is no magic. In fact, cost/time management is the single most apparent, touchable part of the entire process because it is so quantifiable.

The key factors in controlling your cost are: setting reasonable goals, communicating these goals clearly, and constantly monitoring the process. Setting reasonable budget objectives is a matter of research and objective evaluation. If at all possible visit other centers and interview owners to obtain accurate building construction costs, site development costs and comparative design features. An architect with experience in designing aquatic centers will also have an in-house database from which additional cost data can be used to develop a comprehensive construction cost budget. This budget is the keystone around which all design, energy and resource decisions will revolve.

Verify compliance with the construction cost budget at each meeting and develop detailed estimates at the completion of each major phase of the process. Hard costs, soft costs and contingencies are all part of comprehensive cost control.

Energy Control

A Ferrari is a beautiful piece of machinery which is designed to cruise at 100 m.p.h., yields a 12 mile-per-gallon fuel consumption, calls for service every 5,000 miles, and requires parts that are available only from Italy. Considering the roads, speed limits, cost of fuel and availability of service, a Ferrari is a very impractical, costly choice of an automobile in the USA.

These facts are obvious and a good analogy for the operational considerations which make up 33% of the design/process equation. When talking about energy, we include the total energy required to operate an aquatics facility, which includes staffing costs, fuel, chemicals and miscellaneous expenses. Establishing an energy, or "operational profile" early in the design process defines operational expectations.

If this is your first aquatic center, a great first step is that of interviewing the staff of an existing facility or becoming aligned with user/operator groups which have formed in various parts of the country. Working with your architect, you should develop an operating budget for your proposed facility before beginning any design work. This operational profile will define the levels of staffing, energy consumption and other operational costs which will play a significant role in selecting mechanical systems, building materials and the level of sophistication of many design features. The operational profile will define expectations which directly affect the initial cost and, ultimately, the revenue intake of your facility. The operational profile will define key design details which directly affect the life of your structure, and the comfort and safety of the patrons who use your facility.

The scope of aquatic programs and building operations must be accurately tailored to avoid the Ferrari Syndrome. For example, a projected yearly operational budget of $1 million will typically yield a personnel budget of $550,000 to $600,000. This budget will accommodate a full complement of management, program, safety and maintenance personnel--able to provide a comprehensive level of programs and operate a sophisticated physical plant at optimum efficiency. A projected yearly operational budget of $500,000 with a personnel budget of $275,000 produces a staff profile with more modest expectations.

In the first example, a full-time maintenance engineer with a high level of technical training maintains a sophisticated, computerized energy-management system. In the second example, operations and maintenance issues fall into the lap of the facility director, who is preoccupied with programming, staffing and other administrative duties. Should an equal level of energy efficiency be desired by our second facility director, a yearly mechanical maintenance/service agreement should be factored into the operational cost profile. If this is not feasible, you should factor an appropriate adjustment into the mechanical systems' design to ensure a smooth operational cycle.

The most sensitive operational factor in an aquatic center is the delicate relationship between water, air and structure. For example, an active indoor 50-meter pool evaporates at a rate of 500 pounds of water per hour. Controlling this phenomena while maintaining design temperature, and water quality while mitigating the adverse effect on building materials requires rigorous design, specific detailing and continual maintenance. Legionnaire's, or sick-air syndrome, rust, high humidity, condensation and wet decks are common symptoms which have demised many a good building within the first years of operation.

The quality and durability of interior finishes cannot be over-emphasized, as they will directly affect your operating cost chart. For example, in locker rooms, ceramic tile flooring and Corian countertops will pay for themselves within a very short period of time when factoring increased janitorial and replacement costs of alternative materials. The exterior wall composition of an aquatic facility is unique in the construction industry and pivotal to the life of your facility. It must resist weathering conditions from interior and exterior surfaces and accommodate a temperature differential of 100[degrees] in some parts of the country. The composition and placement of material mass, insulation and vapor barrier will significantly influence your energy consumption, your maintenance expenses and the comfort of your patrons.

By accurately selecting the building materials, mechanical systems and aquatic features which match the operational profile you have established, you will avoid "sick syndromes" and turn your expectations into reality.

Quality Design

Quality design is the third part of the design process equation and includes the issues that are most closely associated with the revenue side of your aquatic center. These are the factors which affect the comfort, safety and engagement of the patrons who will use your center.

The first step in ensuring your patrons' satisfaction is to make the effort to understand who these people are and what they desire. By developing an accurate user profile, you will be able to make informed decisions on issues affecting programmatic construction and operational characteristics.

Surveys of your service area, coupled with national survey data will help you define the user profile by age, income and frequency of use. Your design team should use this data to define the program priorities of the facility and in turn, be used to identify programmatic design features in the building as well as details of water depth, water and air temperature, and the visual character of your facility.

For instance, a center designed for a user profile with a heavy bias in the upper age bracket will be dynamically different from that of a facility designed specifically for the 12-to 24-year-old group. Most public agencies, however, must design facilities to accommodate the broadest range of age and program demand. Maintaining an even balance of competition, recreation and instructional programs is the best formula for success for this type of facility. While ultimately an exercise in compromise, unique design features for specific population groups such as hydrotherapy whirlpools for the elderly and zero-depth ramps for children provide the focus they desire and a dynamic range of activities for the entire family.

Safety must be a key factor in every design decision. Visual control, pool design, glare control, deck design and first safety issues all must be factored together to ensure the safety of patrons, which in turn, increases their comfort level. As you evaluate design proposals, a good exercise is to stimulate emergency events to test the effectiveness of design features, equipment layouts, communication systems and rescue apparatus.

The architectural character of your aquatics center plays a profound role in ensuring the success of your facility. The interior must provide an environment which is both comfortable and stimulating. Patrons must feel constantly oriented and visually engaged by the activities provided. Lighting, material selection, colors, temperature and humidity all must be synthesized to produce an environment people are eager to return to with their friends and family.

The exterior character of your aquatics facility should reflect the culture of your community and say something about the aquatic uses within. While the functional constraints of aquatic center design present a challenge, creative exterior design solutions can integrate energy-saving ideas. The use of skylights and clerestory windows can yield a high quality design which is an integral part of your community.

The design of an aquatic center is similar to the purchase of any automobile or suit of clothes. Cost, energy (operations) and design factors must be properly balanced to ensure the right fit. While the scale and the permanence of an aquatic facility may be daunting by comparison, these analogies are appropriate tools to use while you control the process of design.