Long Bridge Park Aquatics and Fitness Center
Arlington County, Virginia
In Collaboration with Page
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Aquatic Centre (8-Lane 50m Competition Pool, Spectator Seating, 3m and 5M Diving Boards, 4-Lane 25m Leisure Pool with Hydrotherapy Area, Fitness Pool, Lazy River, Water Slide), Fitness Conditioning Space, Meeting Rooms, Multipurpose Rooms
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Structural: Ehlert Bryan
Mechanical / Electrical: Limbach
Civil: AMT Engineering
Landscape: Rhodeside & Harwell
Aquatics: Water Technology Inc (WTI) -
2022 Athletic Business: Facilities of Merit Design Award
2022 American Institute of Architects (AIA) DC Chapter: Design Award
2021 Design Arlington: Award of Excellence
Located north of the Crystal City neighborhood of Arlington, VA, the new Aquatics and Fitness Center completes the existing 30-acre Long Bridge Sports Park. A design that responds to the site’s impressive urban and natural contexts, the project demonstrates the idea of sustainability as an everyday connection between community and the environment on a budget constrained Design-Build process.
The new park and building continue the geometry of the existing park’s sloped planes. The facility’s split-level design works with the site topography to provide level access at both of its floors through two generously-proportioned entrance porticos on the southwest and the north. These porches display the building’s inner life, making it continuous with that of the park, and create community gathering space that supports blended interior and exterior activity. The park’s new cycling and pedestrian pathways include extending the existing elevated esplanade along the Potomac River to the north portico.
The project occupies a 10.5-acre formerly industrial site at the tip of a green peninsula bordered by major highways, commuter and commercial rail traffic, and the flight path along the Potomac River to Ronald Reagan National Airport.
The building nestles into the landscape with a form that accentuates the park’s gentle ‘origami’ folds. A standing-seam metal roof angles down to tessellated façades, making the facility a distinctive landmark from all directions, including the hundreds of passenger aircraft that pass over the site daily.
The first step was the remediation of the brownfield site, allowing for the safe public occupation of the land and the completion of Long Bridge Park. While offering new civic amenities, the park and building also return people to the natural environment along the river.
The facility’s two signature spaces, the leisure and competition natatoria, are separated by a generous public lobby and other programs distributed over two storeys, including a fitness centre and multi-purpose community rooms. The larger hall has a 50m competition pool with a movable barrier, to support community use, and seating for 500 spectators.
The separate leisure and competition pools are replete with natural light and designed for accessibility, flexibility, and multi-use. The faceted ceilings in both aquatic halls echo the forms of the park and the building’s exterior.
