The competitions brief required a complex system of bathrooms and changing rooms for swimmers and the public, All this areas are beneath the aquatic gardens. A set of courtyards below ground level give natural illumination to them and provide a meeting space and warm up area for competitors and swimmers. The only construction that rises above the gardens is the synchronized swimming pool. Submerged windows face to the main open air circulation area and from the street passers can peek at the swimmers. A broad pedestrian concourse provides access for spectators, while swimmers descend ramps to the sky-lit changing rooms 3m below the gardens, and ascend other ramps to the pools.