The recently unveiled Recreation and Athletic Center at St. Edward’s University has been designed with a focus on holistic well-being.
The 12,400-sf addition to the existing facility, originally built in the mid 1980s, features new fitness and wellness facilities such as a yoga studio, a wellness center, and a meditation center with an openness and connection to the environment that is centered in the middle of the campus.
Credit Andrea Calo.
The addition wraps the campus-facing side of the facility and is for use by the entire student body and faculty rather than for athletes only. A portion of the building extends out toward the heart of the campus and incorporates outdoor “stadium type” seating facing a new plaza where performance and presentation will take place. The plaza was created where a parking lot once existed and creates a new pedestrian-oriented active space.
See Also: Sacred Heart University to build $60 million hockey arena
The yoga/studio space is the focal point of the new facility and has been designed as a glass cube that floats above the entry plaza. It is located at one end of the main campus green and provides an inviting new presence at a corner of the campus that was previously dark and under-occupied.
Credit Andrea Calo.
Credit Andrea Calo.
Chelsea Purgahn/St. Edward’s University ®.
Related Stories
University Buildings | Oct 16, 2015
Competency-based learning: A glimpse into the future of higher education?
For better or worse, the higher education experience for many young Millennials and Gen Zers will not resemble the four-year, life-altering experience that we enjoyed—it’s just too costly.
University Buildings | Sep 21, 2015
Vietnamese university to turn campus into ‘terraced forest’
Pockets of plantings will be dispersed throughout the staggered floors of the building, framing the expansive courtyard at its center.
University Buildings | Sep 21, 2015
6 lessons in campus planning
For campus planning, focus typically falls on repairing the bricks and mortar without consideration of program priorities. Gensler's Pamela Delphenich offers helpful tips and advice.
Mixed-Use | Aug 26, 2015
Innovation districts + tech clusters: How the ‘open innovation’ era is revitalizing urban cores
In the race for highly coveted tech companies and startups, cities, institutions, and developers are teaming to form innovation hot pockets.
University Buildings | Aug 13, 2015
Best of Education Design: 9 projects named AIA Education Facility Design Award winners
Georgia Tech's Clough Commons, Boston's Berklee Tower, and seven other facilities were honored for aiding learning and demonstrating excellent architectural design.
Giants 400 | Aug 7, 2015
UNIVERSITY SECTOR GIANTS: Collaboration, creativity, technology—hallmarks of today’s campus facilities
At a time when competition for the cream of the student/faculty crop is intensifying, colleges and universities must recognize that students and parents are coming to expect an education environment that foments collaboration, according to BD+C's 2015 Giants 300 report.
Contractors | Jul 29, 2015
Consensus Construction Forecast: Double-digit growth expected for commercial sector in 2015, 2016
Despite the adverse weather conditions that curtailed design and construction activity in the first quarter of the year, the overall construction market has performed extremely well to date, according to AIA's latest Consensus Construction Forecast.
University Buildings | Jul 28, 2015
OMA designs terraced sports center for UK's Brighton College
Designs for what will be the biggest construction project in the school’s 170-year history feature a rectangular building at the edge of the school’s playing field. A running track is planned for the building’s roof, while sports facilities will be kept underneath.
University Buildings | Jul 21, 2015
Maker spaces: Designing places to test, break, and rebuild
Gensler's Kenneth Fisher and Keller Roughton highlight recent maker space projects at MIT and the University of Nebraska that provide just the right mix of equipment, tools, spaces, and disciplines to spark innovation.
University Buildings | Jul 2, 2015
Design for new pavilion in Toronto includes a ‘peel-away’ façade
An architect's proposal for a renovation of the main office building at the Ontario College of Art and Design features a façade that fans out from the edges of the building, like it’s opening up to visitors.