Balboa Pool Renovation

The Balboa Park Pool project involves renovating and adding to San Francisco’s Recreation and Parks mid-century natatorium. Taking a historically sensitive approach to preserving the building’s character-defining elements, a strategic renovation of the existing facility left essential elements in place while enhancing the user experience. Upgrades were provided to the building’s structural and environmental systems to meet the highest durability, performance, and sustainability standards.

The design increases the programming capacity of pool services by reconfiguring the existing bath cores and administrative spaces, carving out space for a new community room, family bathrooms, and all-gender bathrooms. The new programs better serve the neighborhood communities’ current needs by redesigning the parking area to improve traffic flow, drop-off/pick-up, overall safety, and accessibility compliance. Upgrades include new pool systems, exterior curtain walls, locker rooms, restrooms, and a commissioned site-specific mural. The renovated building is LEED Silver equivalent and hosts passive strategies such as collecting condensation recovered from the pool’s dehumidification system and greywater to service the facility.

A new civic threshold is created by defining a clear point of entry with the addition of a canopy, stairs, ramp, lighting, and landscape to offer a safe space for pickup and drop-off. The new entry ramp and renovated interior spaces allow for full accessibility compliance from the entry throughout the building. The rehabilitated pool preserves the qualities of the original 1957 building while thoughtfully and respectfully transforming it into a vital resource for the community for years to come.