High Tech Hot Tub
Leveraging Data Storage Systems for new forms of Public Space
Team: Clare Lyster + Alex Saavedra
Client: Chicago Magazine
A data storage facility is located in a vacant hole on Chicago’s lakeshore. The hole was dug in 2008 to receive caissons for a 150-story building that was alter abandoned due to the downturn in the economy. A cold-water supply to cool the facility leverages the site’s adjacency to Lake Michigan, while the return warm water is used for a new municipal hot tub that sits atop the data center. After being exposed to the surface, the newly cooled water cycles back into the facility. An ecological/public/logistical loop is thus formed. A berm around the tub accommodates changing rooms and other public program. An orange-tiled surface is laid as a gradient over the landscape, since this is the industry color used to denote fiber. A second disk occupies the water edge of the site and used as a safe swim zone.
