Program: 
The program includes facilities for the school’s full range of recreational and varsity athletics. For the varsity teams, the building houses a flexibly configured 2,000 seat arena for varsity games and practices, as well as locker rooms and a weight room. For its recreational users, the building contains a recreation gym, a fitness center, and a fitness studio. The building also houses an administration block for the school’s athletic department.

Goals: 
Beyond providing for obvious functional needs, the primary goal for the project was to create a new communal center for the campus – an active, light-filled set of spaces that would encourage social interaction, teamwork, and a sense of school spirit through participation in athletics and related activities. An attention to sustainability was also important, with LEED Gold as the target rating. Finally, the school requested an iconic design to communicate its belief in progressive, innovative thinking.

Solution:
Compact Form: To simultaneously create a stimulating, interactive human environment and fit the entire program on the tight site, a compact form was inevitable. The varsity gym sits at the geographic heart of the structure; its floor, along with its associated team lockers, is located at basement level, but its seating is accessible from three different levels. 

Interior Streets: The void of the main gym is surrounded on three sides by a series of wide, interior “streets” and stairs from which all of the other important functions inside the building can be accessed. The streets emanate from a plaza-like double-height lobby and provide access to the lockers, the second floor recreation gym, and the adjacent outdoor running track. 

Views/Transparency: The design of the structure takes advantage of existing exterior views and also creates meaningful views within the building. From different parts of the building, dramatic views can be had of the nearby mountains, the pool, the track, and the various athletic fields. Inside, abundant glazing creates a level of openness that invites use of all facilities, in particular the fitness center, the weight room, and both gyms. 

Sustainability: The building’s design addresses sustainability through highly efficient mechanical systems, rooftop photovoltaic and solar hot water panels, maximum use of skylights, and solar shading systems correctly adjusted for each orientation.

Iconography: The dynamic, sculptural form of the building embodies the athleticism that inhabits it. The building’s cladding of colored, perforated metal panels likewise alludes to the breathing, perspiring skin of an athlete, though it also has the important effect of providing shading for both the glazed and opaque walls of the structure.