PTR: Joker`s Wild Indoor Water Park

[CoastersRZ]

So I know that I promised a trip report of Queen City Commons and Joker`s Wild Indoor Water Park a while ago. I have been distracted by working LONG hours at Coney so far since graduating June 12th.

For those of you who do not know, I graduated from the #2 ranked graduate Architecture program in the country (The College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning, which is commonly referred to as DAAP, at the University of Cincinnati). The program is ranked behind only Harvard according to the 2009 Design Intelligence rankings.

This trip report details my final thesis project, which was developed over a nine month period (September 2008-June 2009). The actual research for my written document began in earnest in March of 2008, and continued through September of 2009 (including a trip down to Disney World last September, where I was able to meet an Imagineer at EPCOT, thanks to my second chair thesis professor!).

Keep in mind that this project is my design work and does not reflect any actual plans for the site or intended uses for the site in the future. And now, on with the trip report.

Driving along Interstate 71 in Norwood, I received my first glimpse of my ultimate destination: "Queen City Commons" and the "Joker`s Wild Indoor Water Park." The 21 acre mixed use development is located on the former site of the U.S. Playing Card Company (which had occupied the site since 1908, and will be moving to Northern Kentucky later this year).

A close up of the elaborate signage that faces Interstate 71.

Once off the highway, I was greeted with the main entrance to the "House of Cards Hotel and Conference Center" which is located at the end of the Park Avenue in Norwood, just south of the Norwood Lateral. The main hotel lobby is located in the original building that was designed by Cincinnati architect Samuel Hannaford.

Approaching the underground parking garage, I was able to see the connection between the original building and the new Damon wing of the hotel, which also contains the drop off area and entrance for the conference center.

Upon parking my car in the underground parking garage (which is located below the entire development), I entered the main hotel atrium. The playing card theme is evident in the various banners that are hanging in the atrium space. A curving grand stair case links the four levels of the hotel. The check in desk is located at the far right. In the middle right, there is an animatronic display featuring playing car characters and the resort`s mascots.

Progressing into the hotel even farther, I pass by a restaurant that is located within the atrium space.

Continuing, I pass the Jack of Diamonds bar.

Upon exiting the eastern side of the hotel atrium, I encounter my first glimpse of the "King of Hearts Water Park." This is the outdoor water park located within the "Queen City Commons" development and admission is free for the general public. To the left of the pedestrian street is the Hearts wing of the hotel. There are street cafes and retail establishments along this street.

Before exploring the outdoor and indoor water parks, I decided to explore the overall development because of all the entertainment options that are offered. The entire site is based off of a Cincinnati allegory.

Interstate 71 is the thoroughfare at the right in the diagram. Those familiar with Norwood will recognize the open space in the lower left as Dorl Field. The town square alludes to the Central Business District.

When I was there, the town square was a hub of activity. There is a fountain show which is synchronized to various musical tunes. Additionally, there were jugglers and liver entertainers on the square. In addition, street cars traverse the entire 21 acre development and have stops right on the square. This view is actually from one of the restaurants in the Mt. Adams building that overlooks the square. On the left is the miniature Ohio River.

Another view of the town square with all the activities. To the right of the Bicycle water tower (which is one of the two existing elements that I kept in my design) is the entrance to "Joker`s Wild Indoor Water Park."

Note:I spent most of my design time focusing on the hotel, indoor water park and the sequencing of spaces along the Park Avenue axis. That is why the buildings on the southern portion of the site do not have detailed facades other than simple massing.

Numerous bridges cross over the river. The river contains a river walk and passenger boats. Upon boarding the passenger boats, the captain of the boat informed us of the rich history of river travel in Cincinnati. In fact, we were informed that there were numerous steam boat building yards in the East End of Cincinnati. There was a small fee to board the boats, but the experience was well worth it. The building at right is actually an AMC movie theater.

The Riverside Cafe is located right along the river, and underneath a couple of the water slides.

A view along the river, showing the facade of "Joker`s Wild!"

Approaching the entrance to the indoor water park from the town square, I was greeted with this view.

The view of the Clubs guest room wing.

[CoastersRZ]

“King of Hearts Water Park” as seen from atop the Royal Flush Slide. The wave pool is visible, as is the main entrance to Joker`s Wild! The blue Speed Slide is located on the actual Bicycle water tower.

Another view of the water park showing the many water slides.

A final view of the King of Hearts Water Park shows the water tower and the water slide that launches from it. This image also shows the main façade of Joker`s Wild! Indoor Water Park.

This view shows in more detail the entrance to the indoor water park. A street café is located at left.

Upon entering Joker`s Wild! Indoor Water Park, this is the view that you are greeted with. The Racing Aces slide serves as the terminus for the Park Avenue Axis. The wave pool is located off to the left. The lazy river encircles the raise island that is seen in the foreground. The green water slide on the left is the water coaster.

Standing next to the Activity Pool, you can get a sense of the industrial motif of the indoor water park, which ties into the history of manufacturing in Norwood and the Cincinnati region. The building on the left is the German Acorn Bar & Grill, themed to German playing cards, in which the acorn is one of the four suits of cards.

Here is a link to the brochure for “Queen City Commons” and the water parks. (11.45mb PDF file).

Well, that concludes the actual trip report portion of my post.

Finally, some closing remarks about my thesis. The design images which you see above are only a part of my thesis project. My written thesis document was the other part of my thesis project. It is entitled “Entertainment Architecture: Contextually Integrated Water Park Resort in Norwood, Ohio.” The finished document ended up being 80+ pages long. If you are interested in reading my thesis document, you can read it here. (It is a 26.36mb PDF file).

As you can tell, this was a very complex and time intensive project. I had a lot of fun working on it, and my seven studio mates and my two thesis chair professors had a lot of fun giving me critiques on it. This project was the reason why I would sometimes seem to drop off the face of the earth on KIC when I was under a tight deadline (before I plotted my final presentation, I averaged about four hours of sleep a night for seven straight days to ensure I finished all of the renderings shown above!).

And to quote Walt Disney, “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” I never thought that I would actually design an indoor water park resort for my thesis project. And I was able to work on some very awesome projects on co-op job from last summer that are related to the amusement park industry (I won`t divulge the specifics, but needless to say I have seen the finished products already). So I truly believe in the quote from Walter Elias Disney.

I hope you enjoyed this trip report/my thesis.

[TOPGUN1993]

It's me!!!

Very nice Robbie, truly it is.

[CoastersRZ]

Yes, I had a picture of you (from KIC day right before we got the behind the scenes tour of Club Blood last year). And actually the juggler in many of those pictures is actually my cousin from when she was juggling at Coney for Balloon Glow a couple years ago!

And, a trick that I used to do in art class in high school I did with this project. It is similar to the hidden Mickeys at the Disney parks. My initials are hidden in four places (in three images).

Can you find them?

[Gordon Bombay]

Wow....just wow. I mean, you kind of kept me posted on all those by showing me renderings now and then and we went to photograph the playing card company together, but I never imagined the final project to be this detailed. Absolutely amazing. If you don't mind me asking, with how much work and time you put into it, how did the end result turn out? Like, what kind of grade?

[CoastersRZ]

Actually, I finished with an A for my thesis project.

At the school Awards Ceremony the day before commencement, I received the AIA Henry Adams Medal for Highest Academic Achievement. In other words, I had the highest GPA (3.945 in grad school) out of all 54 people that received their Masters of Architecture degrees from UC this year.

[Beast79]

Very nice, I hope my little tour of GWL helped some, to bad this isn't real I would work there in a heart beat!

[CoastersRZ]

Yes. That tour of GWL you gave me was VERY instrumental in my design and the actual writing of my document. Thanks once again for that!

I actually have had several people ask if this was a real project. I`d hate to see what the cost estimate would be for this. Likely over $250 million.

[The Interpreter]

I've been waiting for this! What an incredibly detailed, feature rich, well thought out effort! I am greatly impressed!

[KIfan1980]

CoasterRZ - thanks for posting this. It is truly some outstanding work and something that I am thouroughly enjoying reading (although I'm not finished with the document quite yet) as it draws together several of my interests in theme parks, architecture, and history of locations. In that regard, if you do ever get into executing a project like this, I hope you include a small museum for the history associated with the site as that is something I think is often lacking when a historical site is renovated into something new.

Thanks again - I hope you are able to follow your passions with your career.

And, a trick that I used to do in art class in high school I did with this project. It is similar to the hidden Mickeys at the Disney parks. My initials are hidden in four places (in three images).

Can you find them?

Yes (but I won't spoil the fun for anyone else who wants to search by revealing)

[Coney Islander]

Great work! I did not know that UC had such a great program for Architecture and Design. When I grow up, I hope to design Amusement Park rides and buildings, so I am quite interested in going to the University of Cincinnati. What kind of program did you use to design this?

[westcoaster]

Such a great undertaking: you can dream it you can do it!

This was incredible you should create a website.....etc.

get supporters and contributors together ! and build!!!

This was a great post, great project:

[CoastersRZ]

Thanks for the kind words about the project!

KIFan1980, your comment about the history of the site was a comment that was brought up at my final review. They thought it would be awesome if part of the hotel paid homage to the actual processes that went on in the playing card factory. Ie, the printing room, etc. That is a very nice point and an angle that I did not really preserve in the design. I did include a space in the hotel for a playing card museum (the U.S. Playing Card Company used to have a museum that was open to the public, but they have since closed it).

All of the designing for this project was done in AutoCAD 2008 (particularly the plans that can be seen in the brochure) and Google SketchUp Pro. All of the renderings were completed using Adobe Photoshop CS3. I also utilized Illustrator CS3 for the brochure, and InDesign to layout the actual written document. Some of the working rendering files were quite large and had dozens and dozens of layers and the actual files were quite large (100+ mb!!!).

Now if only I could find a full time job in an architecture firm. I`ve been trying to find one for the last month and a half with no luck, unfortunately.

[Avatar]

Robbie - Your thesis is just awesome and you can tell it took a long time to do just by the details. I particularly enjoyed the fact that you made your project a allegory to Cincinnati area, this not only shows your talent in design architecture but that you have creativity in appealing to various interest. I also liked your hidden R,Z's it gave this report a fun twist as well as educational one. I have always enjoyed looking at artist renderings of projects and seeing actual photos blended in with the new construction renderings was especially interesting to me and made me say "wow that is a neat way to see this". Why am I not surprised you would do such a neat job with your presentation. Now that school is over may I ask do you miss it at all? Thanks Robbie for sharing I enjoyed it a lot and learned from your report.

[flightoffear1996]

$250 million. If downtown Cincinnait where to get this (I know it wont happen) It might put it some competion with Newport finnaly. What we need is the govenment to step up and take on projects like this to get the economy rolling again.

[CoastersRZ]

Well, to be technical the U.S. Playing Card Company site is not located in Cincinnati. It is located in the city of Norwood, immediately adjacent to Interstate 71. This was a purely theoretical project. I`m sure that if anything were to be redeveloped on this particular site once the U.S. Playing Card relocates to Northern Kentucky that it will not be on as large a scale as my project. Not to mention the surrounding residents would likely balk at the increased noise and traffic caused by such a development.

Do I miss DAAP and working late nights and weekends? Did I mention that I actually paid UC to work late nights and weekends? No, I do not miss it. What I do miss though, is working in an architecture environment. I have been trying, unsuccessfully to find a full time job in an architectural office. Unfortunately, not many places are hiring right now given the current economy. Hopefully things will improve soon. I only have a little more than a month of work at Coney before I need to find something (at least until I can land a full time job related to my two college degrees).