Liollio Architecture

The Brighton Park Swim Club is a community pool house that is designed to reflect the vision of Brighton Park as an elegant, modern and comfortable place for family life. This small pavilion is one of only a handful of structures within the development that were commissioned directly by the master developer, and it was built for more than just function: this project is also intended to express the architectural aspirations of the development masterplan. While this typology is often treated as an afterthought, the architect and client recognized the project’s potential as a statement of the master developer’s desire for elegance and clarity of design. Other development partners in Brighton Park are asked to look at amenities such as this one as an example of the master developer’s intention to avoid the bland cheapness of mid-market suburban development.

The pavilion is small, but is prominently sited on axis with a main avenue of the development. Its profile is visible at a great distance, which indicates it as a hub for neighborhood socializing. The pavilion provides restrooms and an open, breezy shelter from the sun for poolside picnics and celebrations.

The design adopts a clear parti, careful orientation, and simple materials. It also adopts a sly abstraction of a vernacular form, through a descending eave height on the east elevation that reverses direction on the west side. The geometry forces the perspective and plays with the observer’s perception of the pavilion’s length. The result is something playful, curious, unexpected, but not superficially garish or distracting. On a more practical level, the drooping eaves are oriented to provide deeper shelter at the restroom doors and more midday shade at the covered picnic area.