Lynnhaven Dive Center and Swim School
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Overview
Lynnhaven Dive Center and Swim School is a 9,000-square-foot aquatic training facility developed through the renovation of the organization’s existing two-story building and a major addition that significantly expands its instructional capabilities. The existing facility was renovated to provide classrooms and offices, while the new Big Mike’s Aquatic Center features a 120,000-gallon, 15½-foot-deep indoor training pool—six times the size of the center’s original pool—along with a glass observation lobby, technical gear repair center, rental equipment storage, changing areas, and support spaces. Thompson Consulting Engineers provided mechanical, electrical, and plumbing design, Construction Administration, and Commissioning services, integrating specialized building systems capable of supporting the demanding environmental conditions of a year-round indoor aquatic facility. The expanded center strengthens Lynnhaven Dive Center’s ability to provide scuba certification, swim instruction, water-safety education, and other aquatic programs while continuing a Virginia Beach training tradition established more than four decades ago.
Challenges
- Designing specialized MEP systems for a 120,000-gallon indoor training pool with demanding humidity, ventilation, temperature, and water-quality requirements.
- Integrating a substantial new aquatic addition with an existing two-story building undergoing renovation for classrooms, offices, and supporting functions.
- Coordinating building systems around the 15½-foot-deep training pool, technical gear facilities, changing areas, observation spaces, and other specialized aquatic functions.
- Providing durable, energy-conscious infrastructure capable of supporting year-round swim, scuba, and water-safety programs within a high-humidity environment.
Goals
- Expand Lynnhaven Dive Center’s instructional capacity with a purpose-built indoor facility supporting scuba certification, swim instruction, and water-safety education.
- Provide specialized environmental control and ventilation systems that maintain comfortable, healthy conditions within the year-round aquatic environment.
- Integrate the renovated existing building and new addition into a cohesive facility supporting instruction, administration, equipment services, and aquatic training.
- Create reliable, adaptable infrastructure capable of supporting continued program growth and evolving aquatic training needs.
Project Team
- Owner: Lynnhaven Dive Center
- Architect: Tymoff + Moss Architects
- Structural: Sinclair Pratt Cameron P.C.
- Civil: Timmons Group
- Contractor: Axis Global Enterprises
Results
- Expanded aquatic training capacity with a 120,000-gallon, 15½-foot-deep pool approximately six times the size of the center’s original pool.
- Created a comprehensive training environment combining classrooms, offices, aquatic instruction, technical gear repair, rental equipment storage, changing facilities, and observation areas.
- Provided specialized building systems that support year-round indoor aquatic operations while maintaining appropriate environmental conditions for participants, instructors, staff, and visitors.
- Strengthened a Virginia Beach institution established in 1979, providing expanded infrastructure for scuba certification, swim instruction, water safety, and future aquatic programming.
