The Vertical Athletic Club adds a new place for sport and social interaction to the KIT Campus. Bringing together deep diving and indoor surfing in a vertical building, the project explores how water can become not just a functional element, but the spatial and atmospheric centre of the architecture.
Unlike most deep-diving facilities, where the diving shaft is hidden underground, the 45-metre-deep shaft rises above ground and becomes visible across the campus. All uses are arranged around this central volume of water, allowing visitors and athletes to experience it on every level. On the ground floor, tiered seating descends from the surrounding terrain towards a lower-level pool. This creates a public meeting place while offering the first views into the diving shaft. Changing rooms, training areas and a café are located on the lower floors, together with planted spaces for rest and socialising.
The indoor surfing facility and the entrance to the diving shaft are placed on the upper levels. From here, divers descend through the entire building to its deepest point. A spherical water tank above the surfing area uses the available height to generate a standing wave. The water is then pumped back up as part of a closed cycle.
The building’s form and structure respond directly to the forces of the water. While the diving shaft widens towards the top, the outer volume narrows in the opposite direction. Steel columns, perforated beams and tension cables form an exposed structure inspired by industrial water towers. Together with the transparent façade, it makes the water, movement and sporting activities visible from the outside. The Vertical Athletic Club becomes both a technical landmark and a public meeting place on the campus.