A “draft program and two to three concept ideas” for the new pool will be ready for presentation, comment, and critique at the second Piedmont Community Pool Workshop on Nov. 16 from 7 ‐ 8:30 p.m. according to the city and ELS.
The city and ELS held their first workshops on Nov. 2 that included a gallery walk outlining ideas and goals for the new pool. If you missed the first workshop, you can view the display boards and comment HERE.
A final workshop will be held Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. You can register for upcoming events HERE.
A recap from the City’s Nov. 4 community email:
“This week, at Veterans Memorial Hall, the City of Piedmont and ELS Architecture and Urban Design began the first of a three‐part workshop series gathering community input for the design of the new Piedmont Community Pool. At Workshops #1A & 1B, the community strolled through a gallery walk where they could ask questions, share ideas, and give input. Eight informative boards, displayed throughout the space, were accompanied by ELS staff facilitating an exciting variety of discussion topics.
The Piedmont Community Pool project is funded by bond measure UU and is targeting a final cost of $21 million. It will be built at 777 Magnolia Ave and will include at least two pools, plus a two‐story support building. The state‐of‐the‐art design will meet LEED Silver, WELL v2, and CAL Green Building Code requirements with a goal of eliminating the need for fossil fuels. The design will be completed fourth quarter of 2022; a grand opening is scheduled for summer 2024.
Regarding the two pools: one will focus on a variety of deep‐water activities, while the other, a warm water fun pool, will enable family‐oriented enjoyment and a range of warm water activities. The community shared an array of programming ideas and voiced a diverse set of needs for particular programming. A consistent thread throughout the community’s comments was the importance of the site’s multigenerational and cross‐cultural uses, which is a clear testament to Piedmont’s strong civic culture.
The aim of this first workshop was to collect more information. With upwards of one hundred community members attending, Piedmonters’ dreams and aspirations for the center were on full display. By the workshop’s conclusion, its final station, a design tree with sticky notes available for thoughts and comments, was covered with a range of ideas.”
Given architect ELS’s talent and commitment to sustainable energy sources, I am hopeful the short list of plans we see on Nov. 16 will included aquatic heat sources that will be net zero in terms of climate damage.
LEED silver and CAL Green Building code are required by city ordinance and are standard design levels for 21st century buildings. LEED Zero would be state of the art. The pool will be state of the art if it uses less natural gas than the current pool. That’s a challenge but doable if the pool is made smaller. Doing so frees up necessary space for green technology on site. Otherwise the pool will be powered with electricity obtained from fossil fuels.