Case Study
Garfield Pool and Recreation Center
San Francisco, CA
2021
When the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department (RPD) approached Paulett Taggart Architects and TEF Design to undertake a renovation of the Mission District’s Garfield Pool, the building had been an enduring presence in the neighborhood for over half a century. Located in the neighborhood’s 3.4-acre Garfield Square Park, the structure was also historically notable. Designed by San Francisco architect William Gladstone Merchant, it exhibited all the hallmarks of the International Style: ribbon windows that emphasized its strong horizontality, a shed roof that helped it stand out from the landscape, transparent glass walls, and very little ornamentation. But ad-hoc additions over the years had occluded the design, and delayed maintenance, as well as poorly utilized exterior space, had made it increasingly difficult for the natatorium and the adjacent fieldhouse to fulfill their role as a community hub.
Challenges:
Disjointed structures, need for visual and programmatic cohesion, desire for community use
The renovation began with assessing the site, determining what should be kept and enhanced and what could be done away with. A historical analysis determined that the fieldhouse building did not possess the same historical importance as the pool building, so we chose to demolish it and design a new 3,400-square-foot clubhouse to host the park’s community programming, including recreational and interventional youth services. Clad in light blue phenolic panels that refresh the exterior identity of the complex and subtly hint at the aquatic program, the clubhouse—which houses a multipurpose room, a kitchen, public restrooms, and an office—is connected to the primary pool building by a glass-lined lobby entrance whose transparency is a welcoming gesture to community members that might be passing by. Along this same facade, The Primal Sea—a 1980 work by local muralists’ collective Precita Eyes depicting whimsical landscapes and underwater scenes in bright blue, yellow, and pink hues—had been partially obscured by a lobby addition from the late 1980s. We removed this extraneous appendage and restored the mural, a key part of the identity of this part of the Mission, allowing it to be fully visible from the street.
Site Plan
Floor Plan
1 Site Access along Treat Avenue
2 Site Access along Harrison Street
3 Lobby
4 Reception
5 Clubhouse
6 Splash Pad
7 Natatorium
Courtyard
Lobby looking towards Clubhouse
Natatorium
In the natatorium itself, we stripped back layers of added material that obscured the precision of the architecture, particularly along the canted western facade. Here, a new, 113-foot-long glass mural titled Santuario by Oakland artist Favianna Rodriguez celebrates the Mission’s Latinx history and nods to The Primal Sea with its depictions of moving water, rolling hills, and playing children. Inside, program decisions reflect the facility’s embrace of its community: the lap pool has a divider that makes it possible for children and people with mobility issues to use it, and we’ve added an all-gender locker room. A new circulation scheme also bolsters the communal feeling. Where before women, men, people using the outdoor sports court, and people using the fieldhouse would have little interaction with one another, the new design utilizes the glass lobby as a universal entry that allows all users to intermingle. Behind this entry space, a large outdoor courtyard sandwiched between the natatorium and the clubhouse, and directly accessible from both, provides a moment of respite or even an al fresco hangout spot—a much needed improvement over the space’s previous use as a storage area for RPD.
Working with Build Group, we performed a full seismic retrofit, provided structural upgrades, and added new, energy-efficient electric and mechanical systems. Taken together, all of these changes not only brought the natatorium up to code and into the 21st century, they also helped to extend the entire complex’s life, ensuring that the building can serve its community well into the future.
Rendered Perspective Section
Courtyard looking at Lobby & Clubhouse
Credits
Photography by Bruce Damonte