Aqua Sports & Spa

Tokyo, CA
Construction Cost: $20 million
Area / Square Feet: 60,000
Occupancy Date: June 2016

MODERN REINVENTION
Aqua Sports & Spa is a modern reinvention of the traditional Japanese neighborhood bathhouse, providing facilities and programs specifically designed to maintain health and foster community. The club focuses on high-level personal services for its members, and the design needed to bridge the wide gap between a utilitarian fitness club and a luxurious resort. The much larger pool volume is raised adjacent to an elevated highway. Enormous windows allow both swimmers and passing pedestrians to visually engage each other, blurring the traditional boundary of private and public space.

SIMPLICITY
The minimalist aesthetic embraced by the Japanese for this unique building meant that the construction quality had to approach perfection. Fortunately, craftsmanship is an artform in Japan, and the building was assembled with such care and respect that not even a single ceramic tile had to be cut to fit into place. Contained in the most dramatic of all the club's spaces, the minimalist white, gray and blue interior allows the water to become the primary design element.