Pittsburgh Pioneer Education Center
Aqua Therapy Pool Addition

This project provided a new building addition to Pittsburgh Pioneer Special Education School.  The addition provides the School District the ability to provide Aqua Therapy Services that can help alleviate pain, boosts circulation, relaxes tense muscles, and reduce stress. Utilizing Aqua Therapy, students can now have the ability to learn specific exercises aimed at improving strength, flexibility, coordination, balance, and range of motion.  

Goals for this project were to deliver an addition that was aesthetically pleasing, technically sound, easily maintainable, energy efficient, sustainable, and functional for the staff.  

The design inspiration brings the serenity of nature indoors.  The Pavilion styled building fits seamlessly into the schools Sensory Park.  And the indoor pool room is designed as a space  where water, light and greenery come together to promote a therapeutic connection. A hydraulic lift that allows a wheelchair user to roll directly over the water and gradually lowers them into the pool is a key feature, as it eliminated staff needing to transfer students between different chairs and lifts.  And in lieu of traditional locker rooms, adult changing rooms were incorporated and  fitted with adjustable changing tables, accessible restroom fixtures and roll in showers. 

Although LEED certification was not a requirement, our team still designed the project according to LEED standards!  In doing so, we incorporated sustainable design elements, which would be necessary to achieve a LEED (Silver) certification. For example,  we incorporated control innovations that automatically modulate PH and Alkalinity for the pool water.   And also, utilizing the pool waters heat, we are able to utilize that energy for heating the air and controlling humidity throughout the pool room.  These features, along with site design that kept all soils onsite and utilized rock sumps for rainwater all contribute to a sustainable design.

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The program areas included in the project consist of

• Therapy Pool Room including Pool, Deck and Pool Storage

• Pool observation/office

• Wheelchair transfer and storage

• Student changing room, lockers, and showering facilities

• Staff changing, lockers, and showering facilities

• Laundry, Additional storage and support areas