Smith Aquatic & Fitness Center – 140-Foot Glass Mosaic Gradient

The headwall above the competition pool at the Smith Aquatic & Fitness Center in Charlottesville, Virginia is a 140-foot-wide, 20-foot-high glass mosaic gradient. Becoming Tile designed the gradient and fabricated the mosaic as the fabricator for Mosaic Tile Supplies. The project was a 2012 Coverings Installation & Design Award winner in the Commercial Mosaic-Glass category.

Smith Aquatic & Fitness Center competition pool with the 140-foot blue glass mosaic gradient headwall fabricated by Becoming Tile — The 140 ft × 20 ft gradient headwall above the competition pool, Smith Aquatic & Fitness Center, Charlottesville, Virginia.

The design

Architect Bargmann Hendrie + Archetype asked for a “falling rain” gradient: a rich mix of varied blues that would blend well from a distance across a very large expanse, lighter at the top and deepening toward the water. Becoming Tile developed the color schemes with its gradient software, adjusting the starting tones and color mix through several rounds of review with the architect before the final blend was approved.

By the numbers

Wall size: 140 ft × 20 ft (2,800 sq ft)
Tiles: 415,288 individually placed 1-inch glass tiles
Colors: 27 glass tile colors in the final blend
Sheets: about 2,880 mosaic sheets
Layout: 28 panels, each 5 feet wide, labeled A through BB for installation
Fabricated and shipped: summer 2010, ahead of the center’s fall 2010 opening

Fabrication

Each of the 415,288 tile positions was computed in Becoming Tile’s software, so the gradient falls continuously across the full 140-foot wall without visible steps between sheets or panels. Becoming Tile tracked inventory for every color against the design, fabricated the sheets panel by panel, labeled them by installation position, and shipped them to the site in staged deliveries in July 2010.

Recognition

The Smith Aquatic & Fitness Center was a winner in the Commercial Mosaic-Glass category of the 2012 Coverings Installation & Design Awards. The award entry was submitted by the project’s architect and credits the designer, Bargmann Hendrie + Archetype, and the installer, The Ceiling and Floor Shop. Becoming Tile fabricated the mosaic.

Project team

Architect and designer: Bargmann Hendrie + Archetype, Boston
Tile supplier: Mosaic Tile Supplies
Gradient design and mosaic fabrication: Becoming Tile, LLC
Installer: The Ceiling and Floor Shop, Charlottesville

Planning a pool or large-wall mosaic?

Becoming Tile designs and fabricates gradients, patterns and picture murals at any scale, delivered as labeled sheets in installation order. Becoming Tile also fabricated the Wing Lung Bank mural, winner of 1st Prize Commercial in the 2007 Coverings Spectrum Awards. See commercial projects or contact us about your project.