Set in the future, the project explores the controversial political affairs around California’s water, as was once shown in Roman Polanski’s film China Town (1975). The project for a purification plant and spa located in proximity to Central California’s Lake Tulare has direct access to the Los Angeles Aqueduct. The proposal aims to address the use of materials which impact the environment by controlling their degradation over time.

Water has been excessively drained for irrigation purposes from California’s once largest freshwater lake. This has led to water depletion, in turn affecting the level of toxicity in the water and the erosion of the contours of the lake. Water purification processes are built into the architecture as a way of addressing this. Dirty, toxic water from the aqueduct is purified with the aid of a ‘hydrogel’ purification coagulant. A chemically engineered ‘hydrogel’ façade – a biodegradable skinlike membrane that covers the skeleton of the building – erodes over a period of ten years, changing its presence in the landscape. This purified water and the natural hot springs on the site are used in the building's water features, after which this cleaner water returns to the aqueduct.