Wilderness Phase IX – Wave Pool
Wisconsin Dells, WI

56,0000 sf wave pool enclosure and 9,000 sf of support space and restaurant snack bar.

This project, dubbed the "Wavepool Cover," for the Wilderness Resort in Lake Delton really consisted of building a complete indoor waterpark over and around an existing outdoor wavepool in the middle of a completed resort. The 84,300 square foot Wavepool Cover has a unique structure and a translucent roofing system that is the second of its kind in the United States and one of a handful of similar types of facilities in the world.

The FoilTec translucent roof panel system consists of specially fabricated panels that are inflated and permanently sealed.

The building structure was designed to require as few columns as possible to enhance the open feel of the space. The main structural steel girder truss is the largest piece of prefabricated structural steel that has been manufactured by Skyline Steel and erected on a project by Stevens Construction Corp. The main ridge truss was 265' long, 16' high and weighed in at 79,000 pounds. The erection of this truss along with supporting structural steel trusses required a total of six mobile cranes to be used at one time. The structural steel truss system was infilled with more typical glue-lam beams to provide intermediate support for the FoilTec roof panels. Vertical concrete precast concrete buttresses required to brace the steel structure were positioned at the exterior of the building, again to create the illusion of unsupported open space.

Along with the indoor wavepool area, the project includes a precast concrete tower containing the Dueling Mammoths waterslide feature, a second story restaurant and bar overlooking the wavepool, a lobby area and locker rooms with support areas.

Location: Wisconsin Dells, WI
Architect: Architectural Design Consultants, Inc.
Contact: John Leja