On September 29 of last year, the University of Pittsburgh broke ground at its Oakland campus on a new Recreation and Wellness Center, a $255 million project whose 270,000 square feet will spread over nine stories, making this the tallest building of its kind in the U.S. when it opens in the fall of 2024.
Around the same time of the groundbreaking, Michigan State University in East Lansing was moving forward on its plans for a three-story 300,000-sf Health and Wellness Center that is scheduled to open in 2025, and whose design and programming were informed by focus groups with students.
The common thread connecting these projects is their design architect, Columbus, Ohio-based Moody Nolan, which celebrates its 40th anniversary last year. Over the past quarter-century, Moody Nolan has become one of the industry’s leading specialists in the creation of collegiate recreation facilities, according to Campus Rec magazine. The firm’s signature in this typology is designing rec centers to be campus destinations.
As such, Moody Nolan has had a ringside seat to watch how demand for rec centers has evolved to incorporate user well-being. “Our clients aren’t only concerned about physical space, but are also asking ‘why’ about these projects,” says Troy Sherrard, FAIA, a Partner and Sports + Recreation Practice Design Leader, who has been with the firm for 20 years. Consequently, he continues, more clients are requesting “hybrid environments” that “build habits” for health and wellness in students.
Shared spaces a priority for recreation centers
Sherrard says that certain “traditional” spaces, like athletic fields and courts, and even aquatic amenities, are still must haves in rec centers. On the other hand, Moody Nolan has seen less demand lately for racquet sports spaces, and more demand for “shared spaces,” such as turf gyms within fieldhouses, and climbing and bouldering options. Clients also want multipurpose rooms for activities that range from “high energy to mediation,” says Sherrard, who spoke with BD+C last week.
He points specifically to the 101,000-sf, $30 million rec center at Jacksonville State University in Alabama, which opened in January 2019. Sherrard says prior to that opening, fitness and wellness were not prevalent concerns for most rural southern schools. Jacksonville State, conversely, saw the new rec center—which would have the largest footprint of any building on its campus—as one of its “anchors.”
The building’s highlights, says Sherrard, feature a 43-ft-tall outdoor climbing wall, social engagement spaces that include a campus “living room,” and an outdoor “adventure” component for biking and walking. Sherrard adds that rec centers need to be immersive, which in Jacksonville State’s case meant telling a design story through branding “to root the student in a sense of place.” (He notes that anyone walking into this rec center can see most of its rooms at first glance.)
How recreation centers can reinforce student health
After Jacksonville State opened its rec center, its enrollment for the next fall semester jumped by 6 percent. (The school’s full- and parttime enrollment for the fall of 2022 was 9,633, compared to 7,696 in the spring of 2018.)
Other campuses around the country flaunt their recreational and athletic facilities as recruitment bait. “That always comes up, and without [a rec center] there’s a void,” says Sherrard. He points out that Penn State University’s rec center (designed by his firm) is across the street from the college’s Admissions building, so the rec center is the first thing prospective and incoming students and their parents see, accentuating the college’s commitment to health and wellness.
Appealing to student needs is at the forefront of rec center design and operations, says Sherrard. Moody Nolan’s focus groups for the Michigan State University project (for which Rossetti is the AOR) revealed two desired trends that became key design drivers: biophilia and what Sherrard calls “zones for discovery.”
This rec center’s design is created around a courtyard. According to MSU, the building’s front façade opens to an outdoor greenspace with “large spans of glass for natural daylight and ventilation, allowing for integrated indoor-outdoor functional fitness experiences.”
Each floor of Pitt’s Recreation and Wellness center will have a different emphasis: dining, free weights, swimming and aquatic exercise, a gym, a jogging track, a multipurpose room, etc. The building itself, built into an 85-ft hillside, will connect Pitt’s upper and lower campuses. Also built into the hillside will be a 160-step “Panther Run,” that includes an outdoor platform halfway up for fitness classes.
Given its verticality, Pitt’s Recreation and Wellness center “could be a game changer” for urban-situated rec centers, says Sherrard.
Related Stories
University Buildings | May 26, 2021
Harvard University Science and Engineering Complex completes
Behnisch Architekten designed the project.
Digital Twin | May 24, 2021
Digital twin’s value propositions for the built environment, explained
Ernst & Young’s white paper makes its cases for the technology’s myriad benefits.
University Buildings | May 17, 2021
Carolina Gaming Arena completes at UNC Chapel Hill
Clark Nexsen designed the project.
Wood | May 14, 2021
What's next for mass timber design?
An architect who has worked on some of the nation's largest and most significant mass timber construction projects shares his thoughts on the latest design trends and innovations in mass timber.
University Buildings | May 13, 2021
Cedarville University's new dining facility includes a 300-seat Chick-fil-A
DesignGroup designed the project.
University Buildings | May 13, 2021
Education Building II at UC Riverside receives final approval
Hensel Phelps + CO Architects will be the design-build team for the project.
Healthcare Facilities | May 5, 2021
HOK to design new Waterloo Eye Institute
The project is being designed for The University of Waterloo’s School of Optometry & Vision Science.
University Buildings | May 4, 2021
UMass Medical School’s new Education and Research Building
ZGF and ARC/Architectural Resources Cambridge are designing the project.
University Buildings | Apr 29, 2021
Perkins&Will to design new gateway building for the University of British Columbia
The building will transform the arrival experience for students, staff, and visitors.
University Buildings | Apr 29, 2021
The Weekly Show, April 29, 2021: COVID-19's impact on campus planning, and bird management strategies
This week on The Weekly show, BD+C Senior Editor John Caulfield interviews a duo of industry experts on 1) how campus planning has changed during the pandemic and 2) managing bird infestations on construction sites and completed buildings.