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Architects: Semple Brown Design
- Area: 2760 ft²
- Year: 2005
- Photographs: Ron Pollard
Text description provided by the architects. Parks and open space define many of Denver’s great neighborhoods. The Stapleton Development (Denver’s old airport) is devoting nearly 30% of its 4,700 acres to parks and open-space. Semple Brown Design’s project team was an original member of the master planning for Stapleton’s open spaces and parks. This project has evolved into designing a variety of pavilions, buildings, trellises, and shade structures. These projects include what will eventually be five (5) public pool houses. They will be key features in public parks currently being developed throughout the new Stapleton Neighborhood. This project is the second of the 5 pool houses.
The visionaries responsible for conceiving these parks realize the importance of community, of successful public space, and of great buildings. These same visionaries believe in allowing the architecture to speak to say something about place and time. Commissioned to design multiple buildings (each with identical programs, each with distinct personalities), the second in this series of pool projects was designed for parents with young children and specifically for the children themselves.
Conceptually, this project was intended to be very playful and loose-natured. Colorful finishes, materials that exaggerate and express their textures, and a sophisticatedly subtle twist in the architecture are all intentional moves that create an environment geared towards the child.
The diagram for this project became about creating a roof that said a lot without doing a lot – a playful twist in the roof balances 6” above a single beam. The simply crafted move in the structure reveals much about the user, the designer, the place, and the concept.
