Arundel Olympic Swim Center Renovation

Since 1998, the Arundel Olympic Swim Center has provided the Annapolis community with year-round aquatic recreation. Anne Arundel County’s largest public indoor swimming facility features a lap pool, wading pool, spa, and diving boards. The swim center hosts competitions, parties, fitness classes, swimming lessons, and recreational opportunities.

But 30 years of humidity, heat, chlorine, and use took their toll on the facility’s infrastructure and equipment. The chlorine-laden atmosphere corroded the light fixtures and attacked the translucent fiberglass panels, causing condensation and premature deterioration. The heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) units needed to be replaced with ones that provided adequate humidity removal and air conditioning, which the main pool area did not have.

GFT provided architecture and engineering design through an open-end contract to renovate the pool area, locker rooms, restrooms, and offices. The swim center renovation project included the replacement of:

• Mechanical equipment.
• Translucent wall panels.
• Bleachers.
• Mezzanine finishes to withstand the harsh interior environment.

New carpet covers the mezzanine and stairs. Sloped translucent fiberglass panels provide diffused indirect lighting to illuminate the pool area while preventing condensation.

The PoolPak^® dehumidification system improves the facility’s quality and comfort. The units are in a roof well 10 feet below the main roof, hiding the units from view. The roof well walls feature a single-ply monolithic roof membrane system to protect against moisture infiltration.

New air conditioning units provide air conditioning to the facility, including the pool area, which had not been cooled previously. The replacement roof, made of thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) single-ply membrane, is at a greater slope to improve drainage and performance.