Clark County YMCA
Vancouver, WA

The original Clark County Family YMCA was completed in 2000 to provide a family-oriented community center. In 2012, construction began on Phase II to fulfill the promise made to YMCA’s membership and to add programs and spaces to better serve the community.  This included an expansion to the existing pool area (also by OpenAire). The enclosure expansion involved taking off the gable end wall and expanding the enclosure by an additional 60ft.

LSW Architects designed the renovation in phases to reduce the impact on users. The initial program included a pool, gymnasium, rock wall, miscellaneous fitness areas, child watch area and support spaces. In the project’s second phase, a lap pool, locker rooms, expanded lobby, renovated fitness rooms, an elevated running track, and the expanded OpenAire pool enclosure were added.

The center’s most prominent feature has an operable roof over the pool to provide an indoor/outdoor motif depending on the weather. In the pool’s shallow end, floor fountains spring up while a large, umbrella-shaped fountain rains water down.

To make sustainability a key consideration with every project, LSW Architects  focused their efforts into the following categories: Energy Efficiency, Embodied Carbon, Human Health, and Resource Conservation.

The retractable roof enclosure by OpenAire aided in the following sustainable category: Operational Energy

• The original pool and new pool addition were built from a glass and aluminum structure and designed to have the roof retract to the outside environment
• Natural light provided by the glass and aluminum structure reduces the demand for electric lighting
• Roof can be opened for natural ventilation on hot days