LITTLE WHALE SWIM SCHOOL

Architecture: Ellis Architects

Client: Little Whale Swim School
General Contractor: TI Builders
Completion: 2025
Photography: Kat Alves Photography

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​​This adaptive reuse project involved converting a long-vacant 60-year-old bank building into the second location for a Sacramento-based swim school.  The 2-story lobby of the former California Bank & Trust building – located at the corner of Broadway and 13th Avenue in Sacramento - was transformed into an indoor natatorium with a custom-built pool to provide swim lessons for children of all ages.  Other supportive spaces were also created from previous bank uses: the former bank teller / ATM room now contains the pool pump, filtration and heating equipment; the original bank vault is now part of the women’s changing room, and the ground floor bank offices were converted into a viewing room, offices, classroom, and lobby for the swim school.  The project also incorporated the addition of an elevator to provide accessibility to the existing second floor, and a large and complex de-humidification system to keep the natatorium at a comfortable temperature for swimmers. The exterior improvements included new windows, paint, and parking lot upgrades.  The existing brise soleil on the Broadway façade, and tall slot windows on the east façade, allow filtered natural daylight into the natatorium. Little Whale Swim School was awarded the ‘Best Adaptive Reuse – Retail Project’ by the Sacramento Business Journal’s Best Real Estate Projects of the Year.

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