PARK WEST POOL & BOATHOUSE

Mount Pleasant, SC

Completed in 2004, the 16,000-square-foot Boathouse is designed as a multi-use pavilion and learning center. It is used for children’s day camp programs, boating lessons on the adjacent pond, and general public activities. By opening the sliding shutters and triple doors, the main room can easily be transformed into an open-air pavilion that spills out onto the porch overlooking the pond.

The owner envisioned the Park West Pool as a cost effective, low maintenance, secondary swimming pool facility to supplement the Jones Center Pool. The design responded to the Owner’s request for a naturally and mechanically ventilated enclosure without the use of dehumidifying equipment. Anticipating higher than normal humidity conditions, SMHa selected materials that included an aluminum structure with stainless steel connectors and simple concrete masonry walls. To combat winter chills for swimmers getting out of the heated pool, stainless steel infrared heaters were specified. The result is a simple, yet effective, structure that requires little if any artificial lighting during daylight hours.