New York, NY
Dormitory Authority of the State of New York [DASNY]
for the City University of New York [CUNY]
8,400 sf
John Jay is a CUNY senior college located on Manhattan’s Upper West Side; its 16,000 students have a unique focus on criminal justice.
John Jay fields an award-winning women’s swim team – but the campus natatorium, in Haaren Hall, the main building, had last been overhauled almost 40 years before. Helpern Architects’ assignment was to bring the leaky swimming pool, its systems, lockers, and other support facilities up to ADA and National Collegiate Athletic Association [NCAA] standards.
Without changing the pool’s existing configuration, the redesign included all-new finishes and architectural details. The new wave-shaped ceiling and window-viewing wall feature narrow slats of teak. New patterned ceramic tile covers the upper walls, deck, and pool shell. A quite large mosaic-tile portrait of John Jay’s hound mascot was installed on the wall under the scoreboard.
The renovation, which took seven years to complete, also improved its infrastructure: pool filtration and pumps; mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection systems; lighting; audio-visual; and security.
Pool photography by Timothy Schenck Hound photograph by Denis Gostev
