Bringing wellness front and center, the new Student Fitness and Health Center consolidates all athletic activities and creates a positive, dynamic interface with the surrounding community. The design emphasizes openness and connections that let the sights and sounds of various activities fill the building. Natural light and natural ventilation, the result of large expanses of efficient, operable windows, skylights and double-height spaces, accentuate a feeling of participation in the great outdoors.

Located near the south edge of the existing campus, the building houses a gymnasium, weight and fitness exercise rooms, climbing wall, juice bar and multi-purpose spaces. Entry spaces are linked to an interior commons area that provides views into the gym and activity rooms and conveys a lively sense of kinetic energy. 

This development has a direct impact on its local neighborhood. The entrance court’s activities are visible from the busy thoroughfare nearby and anticipate the rest of the campus to the west. The juice bar, clearly visible within, connects to the outdoors with a series of sliding doors and establishes a sorely needed student hang-out. In turn, the dramatic form of the nearby climbing wall captures the attention of occupants and passersby. 

The design fulfills the site’s potential as an extension of the upper campus and as a bridge for future development to the south and east, as well as to parking to the north. The plan responds with three entries, each with a distinctive and welcoming outdoor plaza with views of the double-height circulation areas within.