The new aquatic center occupies the site of four existing tennis courts and spectator seating.  Through a series of 4 nodes that choreograph the user and visitor procession onto the site, the design links the new aquatic center to the existing Sunset Canyon Recreation Center, additional tennis courts and the Sunset Canyon arrival circle and entry. The planning minimizes disruption to the sylvan setting of Sunset Canyon while providing identity to the new aquatic center and bringing an original and distinctive presence to the location.

Sunset Canyon is naturally separated from the core campus by topography and vegetation, and serves as a retreat for student athletes and recreationalists. The first node forming the eastern boundary of the project marks the approach for visitors and athletes. The boundary node is a planar wall clad in ipe wood and terminated by a specially patterned signage area. On the inboard side of the boundary node hangs national championship banners and the scoreboard, giving equal priority to the element from within the project. The second node marks the entry to the bleachers for visitors and the ramp entry to the pool for the athletes and is also clad in ipe wood panels and gates and marked with the traditional UCLA brick vertical planar wall. The third node, is a grand ipe wood gate that directs the athletes into facility itself. The fourth node is the Dive Platform, visible from the procession onto the site and an icon at the head of the pool for those inside the facility. The Dive Tower’s prescriptive function is elegantly housed in an ipe, glass and colored concrete structure unifying the project.

The low, horizontal main building houses home and visitor locker rooms, support spaces and pool equipment, anchoring the southern boundary of the site. To accommodate natural ventilation and daylight, the barrel-vaulted roof is lifted off the building walls and edged in fabric. The fabric overhang both shades the building and directs daylight and ventilation under the roof, over the walls, and into the building. The central portion of the roof is interrupted with fabric apertures that bring daylight deep into the internal spaces.

The project is designed around several sustainable principles achieving LEED® Gold certification. Minimization energy use by daylighting the building, naturally cooling and ventilating the spaces, and radiant heating the floors, combined with selection of materials, making a small environmental footprint. Unique technologies include harnessing the heated water of the pool for the radiant heating in the building - through heat exchangers to heat the closed, under floor system.

The Spieker Aquatic Center successfully balances respect for the setting, history and mood of the site with celebration of UCLA’s tradition of excellence in aquatic sport.