Community Space Design by VMDO Architects

Community Space Design

The central atrium, exercise spaces, and views of nature at the Brooks Family YMCA in Charlottesville.

VMDO Architects: Firm Profile VMDO has specialized in architectural planning and design for public

transformations that embody a community’s highest ambitions. Our

and educational institutions since 1976. Our distinctive community-

75+ employees support the firm’s 3 educational design practice areas

centered and educational projects are based on an in-depth

of Athletics + Community K-12 Schools, and Higher Education.

understanding of our clients’ needs and aspirations. We believe an emphasis on personalized service and quality design can transform a

VMDO’s designs have achieved international and national acclaim

place and elevate the human experience.

from a variety of societies and associations, including: the American Institute of Architects’ Committee on Architecture for Education (AIA

With offices in Charlottesville, VA and Washington DC, we create

CAE), the Society for College and University Planners (SCUP), and

community-centered environments that connect people and place

sequential awards in 2016, 2017, and 2018 from the Association of

through design. We strive to enrich the human experience and

College Unions International (ACUI). Our commitment to sustainability

the long-term stewardship of our planet by emphasizing the spirit

is evidenced by receipt in 2010 and 2017 of Top Ten AIA Committee

of a place through quality and enduring architecture, sustainable

on the Environment (COTE) awards – considered the industry’s premier

design objectives, sensitivity to sites and landscapes, and design

accolade for sustainable design.

VMDO has established a reputation for progressive, high-quality designs with purpose. Our mission statement addresses three attributes that we believe are essential for success: Innovation + Creativity VMDO believes that effective and elegant architectural solutions come from insight, creativity, and invention pursued with patience and grounded in research and expertise. We continually seek new paths and directions in the work we do and the tools we use as we search for these solutions. We recognize that every place is unique and form responsive approaches that are distinctly suited to each community. We promote a strong ethic of sustainability and stewardship, advocating innovative environmental strategies throughout the practice. Design Excellence + Meaning We strive for timeless design of sites and buildings that have a self-evident fit with their surroundings, are carefully attuned to their use, and contribute to making a lasting, supportive, and memorable place. We are moved by the idea that our efforts have significance, value, and meaning in the communities where we work. It is especially fortifying when our contributions to the culture and life of a place mark a recognized turning-point or are acknowledged to be truly expressive of a client’s mission. Collaborating + Understanding We gain momentum in our work through depth of understanding, and draw strength from connections with, and our commitments to, the talented people with whom we collaborate. We enjoy the work we do every day and are committed to a collective atmosphere of openness, trust, and respect throughout our office and our process. We are dedicated to an enriching, healthy, and fulfilling work environment that, in many ways, is emblematic of our best thinking about learning by doing and teaching by mentoring.

Core Design Themes Flexibility Connectivity Celebrating Nature Diversity + Inclusion

Architecture adds value to communities through its ability to endure, to transcend, and to uplift. VMDO’s body of work exemplifies that each of our community and recreation spaces is a studied response to a specific design challenge. These challenges may change based on the time, place, and needs of a community, or may be ongoing and ever-changing. The architectural response must embrace change while creating an enduring and elevated sense of place that is welcoming for all. Beginning with an investigation of various physical, historical, and institutional circumstances, we study places in dialogue with communities – in order to design environments that make positive contributions over time. Only from such in-depth investigation and interaction can

On the following pages, we outline four core design tenants – flexibility, connectivity, celebrating nature, and diversity + inclusion – that we believe are integral to creating equitable, safe, healthy, and thriving community spaces.

true and lasting transformation occur. The planning and design of community centers should consider the full breadth of community needs in order to support healthy and thriving public, civic, and social spaces. From four decades of experience designing community and recreational facilities as well as student-centered facilities for schools and institutions of higher education, we know that design can be a positive force for good in shaping a community’s health, wellness, safety, and sense of belonging.

Recreation and community spaces with place-based environmental graphics at Bluestone Elementary School.

Flexibility

Jouett and Walton Middle Schools' Learning Labs feature a continuum of flexible, connected spaces that offer visual connections that support community and passive surveillance.

Every space and surface in your community facility should be scaled to support the diverse physical, intellectual, and social needs of each diverse user or user group. Flexible furnishings, views of nature, open details that invite participation and highlight activity, opportunities for movement, and one-to-one technology are crucial strategies for creating flexible yet differentiated multi-use areas for recreation, learning, socializing, and community-building. Moreover, flexible design approaches are inherently adaptable for social distancing and space configuration during the pandemic and beyond. Similar to our work for K-12 schools, our community space design is flexible enough to allow for multiple configurations depending on public programming needs. Users and staff should feel empowered to right-fit spaces to support flexible community use. A sense of community can be reinforced through well designed visual connections between spaces and the outdoors. Place-based environmental graphics and wayfinding can further empower users and community members to become stewards of their space and feel connected to the larger world around them. Bluestone Elementary's flexible learning studios allow for reconfiguration of spaces into small, medium, and larger groupings depending on needs. 6

Key Components Include: • Appropriate Technology • Flexible Furniture • Space Reconfiguration Infrastructure

The Brooks Family YMCA offers flexible, multi-generational spaces including the Teen Center – doubling as the Teaching Kitchen – which supports collaboration with Charlottesville High School’s AVID program and other youth development programs.

The multi-purpose Open learning hubsCommunity at Buckingham Room Primary at the Lubber + Elementary Run Community Schools transform Center inpathways Arlingtoninto VA, was active informed “learning by streets” cross-generational that featurevoices flexible and settings. inter-disciplinary contributions that inspired a flexible space with multiple functions. 7

Connectivity

Harrisonburg's The Brooks Family Elon YMCA Rhodes includes Early aLearning central, secure Center entry has a point central that promenade highlights that viewsacts to the as alarge shared, multi-purpose communityroom hearth andfor park dining, setting art,beyond. play, and learning.

From our research, relationships can develop in any space, at any time, especially in the right environments – in person, in group sports, over a meal, or in intimate collaborations. From children to senior citizens, safety and security are vital in supporting social connectivity for a successful community center facility. We understand the importance of creating the right balance of spaces for community center programming. These are spaces with open sight-lines, windows or look-outs for transparency, visual connections, and nodes for staff supervision that are well integrated within the design. To support this connectivity, architecture must provide a diversity of spaces that support the greatest diversity of needs and uses. Not just a means to get “from here to there,” circulation spaces can also double as social areas for interaction, community-building, and trusted supervision. Multi-use areas can be centrally located, easily accessible to all, and designed to encourage their extensive use. No longer is a community space a series of rooms and offices; it should also serve as a community commons, a living room, a learning room, and an inclusive, active setting – a place to collaborate, learn, connect, recreate, and enjoy.

At Buckingham Elementary, a playful rec. room provides a safe space for Phys-Ed. with high transparency supporting supervision via glass windows.

Kindness Cafe, a coffee shop that employs people with cognitive disabilities, is at the heart of the Brooks Family YMCA’s shared use planning and design. 8

Key Components Include: • Visual Transparency with Secure Nodes of Activity • Variety of Spaces with Open, Connective Thresholds • Balance of Supervised Areas with Long Sight-lines

The Lubber Run Community Center’s central desk and lobby offer visual connections to doors, entries, exits, and windows in all directions, including views of the main gym and central stairway that leads to spaces above.

The VCU Basketball Development Center is comprised of two main volumes corresponding with the men's and women's practice courts. Abundant transparency offers direct views to and from coaches’ offices, conference suites, lounges, and locker rooms which wrap the courts on the upper floor. 9

Celebrating Nature

The LubberElementary's Bluestone Run Community Dining Center’s Commons rich timber is visually framing and physically and floorconnected to ceiling windows to outdoor create learning visualgardens and physical designed connections to incentivize to thehealthy surrounding eatingpark and and activity. athletic fields. Trees from the site – that were cut for construction – were carefully harvested and crafted into wood finishes used throughout the building.

Community centers should expand, not limit, access to the natural world. Connecting users to nature, instead of sheltering them from it, adds another full dimension to health and wellbeing that also supports environmental education and stewardship. Finding creative ways to connect members to each other and to the natural environment, while applying the highest standards of healthy design, is at the core of what we do. Thoughtful building organization that connects users to nature through courtyards and gardens as well as exterior playfields can infuse a building with a sense of health and vitality. Finding ways to encourage movement can promote healthy behaviors and active routines. Proper building orientation ensures the maximum amount of space is washed in natural daylight as well.

Boulders and trees harvested during construction at Bluestone Elementary are re-purposed as natural play features for students to enjoy. 10

Key Components Include: • Biophilic Design Approaches - the intrinsic need for connection to nature • Sight-lines from inside rooms and corridors • Alignment of Landscape Architecture principles inside and outside the building

Celebrating nature and connecting people inside to the nourishing potential of the mature forest outside are key design elements for the Brooks Family YMCA. Access to daylight, fresh air, views to nature, and other biophilic principles enhance well-being, support mental clarity, expedite healing, and relieve stress.

Celebrating The outdoornature learning andspaces, incorporating school gardens, biophilic elements, and expansive the Liberty views at Athletics Buckingham CenterElementary is infused with School a range provide of evidence-based a strong connection designtoprinciples nature asthat wellsupport as fresh fruits and health andveggies well-being. for school The central lunchGarden that are Atrium integrated is an open, withinshared the nature-based volume withcurriculum. trees, plants, fresh air, expansive views, and numerous multi-purpose spaces. 11

Bluestone Elementary School in Harrisonburg, VA has many visual connections to the surrounding landscape and nature.

Weight room and gym in the Basketball Development Center at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Community Center Experience Our approach to community-centered design is grounded in 45 years of designing community spaces, athletic facilities, K12 schools, and dozens of recreational facilities for a variety of institutions. VMDO’s Athletics + Community concentration weaves these threads of best practice into a range of community and athletic facility designs. Our mission as community-centered architects is to create collaborative, inclusive, equitable, and healthy community and recreation spaces for a diversity of locales, municipalities, and communities.

Within this experience, we have designed numerous programmatic spaces, including: indoor pools, fitness centers, gymnasiums, locker rooms, multipurpose rooms, Senior Centers, play courts, administrative spaces, and outdoor recreation areas, among others. Through thoughtful programming, we strive to create connections between the indoors and outdoors, areas for communal connection, access to nature, and a sense of place that is welcoming, generous, and representative of the community.

A sample of our recent Community, Recreation, and Athletic design experience: Community Center Experience

Recreation Experience

Parks/Athletic Field Experience

Brooks Family YMCA Lubber Run Community Center Original Mount Vernon HS Community Center Stead Park Community Center

VCU Basketball Development Center Liberty Athletics Center Roanoke College Cregger Athletic Center

Lynchburg City Stadium UVA Athletics Precinct Paul VI High School Athletic Fields

Lubber Run Park + Community Center Arlington County Parks + Recreation; Arlington, Virginia Completion September 2020 Budget $385 / SF Size 50,000 SF Community Center New Construction 4.5 acre park Client Reference Peter Lusk, Facilities and Operations Unit Manager Arlington Parks + Recreation 2100 Clarendon Blvd., Suite 414 Arlington, VA 22201 (703) 228-1872 plusk@arlingtonva.us Awards 2020 Excellence in Construction Award, Metro Washington and Virginia Chapters of Associated Builders and Contractors

Lubber Run Park Landscape

Located in Lubber Run Park, a precious natural resource in urban

covered gathering space, and improvements to streetscape to

Arlington County, Virginia, the Lubber Run Community Center

facilitate all modes of transportation.

replaces a previous 1950’s-era community building on a tight

In planning for the facility, the VMDO team led an extensive

4.5-acre site that also includes new outdoor recreation spaces

community engagement process which included community

and amenities. Connection to nature and preservation of open

meetings, online feedback, and on-site engagement as well as

space were essential to designing the new building, and as a

identifying and working with hard to reach groups. Engagement

result, parking and some programs are located underground to

activities were designed to collect constructive feedback

allow for increased outdoor amenities. Through the integration

from the community and in turn drive the design process.

of building and landscape, the Center offers a net-zero energy

Design drivers were derived from this feedback as well as from

response to an urban challenge – ultimately creating a shared

existing site features, board directives, and sustainability goals.

public amenity that is greater and greener for residents.

At subsequent meetings multiple schemes were presented,

The 50,000 SF replacement structure will include multipurpose

evaluated and refined, resulting in a hybrid solution that is

rooms for recreation programs for all ages, a fitness center with

integrated into the park while still presenting a strong presence

locker rooms, a gymnasium, a preschool program, community

on George Mason Drive.

meeting rooms, a kitchen, reception and office space for Parks

Construction of the new community center began in spring

and Recreation staff. Outdoor programmed and open recreation

2018, and it is scheduled to open in September 2020.

spaces will include a playground, volleyball and basketball court,

Gym Rooms 2 Fitness Center 3 Gymnasium 4 Offices 5 PlayRoom + Gallery 6 Community Rooms 7 Co-op Preschool Space 8 Visitor Services 9 Arrival Plaza 10 Underground Parking 1

10 7

Site Plan

Gymnasium with Full-Size Basketball Court and Elevated Track

Flexible Community Room

Brooks Family YMCA Piedmont Family YMCA; Charlottesville, Virginia Completion June 2017 Construction Cost $15,300,000 Size 70,830 SF New Construction Client Reference Kurt Krueger, Piedmont YMCA Board Chair Brooks Family YMCA (434) 977-2521 kkrueger@mcguirewoods.com Awards 2018 Architecture Merit Award, AIA Virginia 2018 Honor Award, AIA Central Virginia 2018 Athletic Business Architectural Showcase, Athletic Business Showcase 2017 Most Influential Commercial Project, Urban Land Institute - Young Leaders Group of Charlottesville

Fitness Room

Located in Charlottesville’s McIntire Park, the Brooks Family YMCA fosters shared experiences of play, friendship, camaraderie, and competition to enhance health and wellness for the Charlottesville community. Prioritizing the communitybased principles of the YMCA, the design provides natural overlaps where members may share experiences, make new friends, and develop a sense of belonging. The building consists of a variety of multi-generational spaces serving a diversity of ages, abilities, programming, and fitness levels: •

A family aquatics center—including a 10 lane fitness / competition pool with observation area as well as a family recreation pool

•

A multipurpose double gymnasium with an elevated running track

•

A lobby doubling as a community / multipurpose room

•

Play areas for children, and a Teen Center—which supports collaboration with Charlottesville High School’s AVID program and youth development programs

Carefully sited to preserve existing Park fields and recreation areas, the YMCA is built into a slope, lowering the perceived massing of the entry and nestling the building next to mature woods for expansive views to nature. Generous windows, expansive daylighting, and transparent details contribute to a sense of openness and communion with the surrounding natural beauty. The application of a perforated screen around the building’s exterior transforms a humble material into a special design feature that optimizes daylighting and energy efficiency while facilitating a special daytime-to-nighttime transformation–where

A central fitness room—including cardiovascular

the building’s multipurpose lobby is illuminated as a welcoming

equipment, free weights, and circuit training equipment

portal for a shared community experience.

A variety of group exercise rooms—including spaces dedicated to mind/body and cycling classes

Suspended Track and Gymnasium

Recreation and Lap Pools

Teen Room with Teaching Kitchen

Basketball Development Center Virginia Commonwealth University; Richmond, Virginia Completion September 2015 Construction Cost $25,000,000 Size 62,000 SF New Construction Client Reference Matt Magruder, Director of Construction Management Virginia Commonwealth University (804) 828-7890 magrudermc@vcu.edu Awards 2017 Award Winner, DBIA Mid-Atlantic 2016 Award Winner, DBIA Hampton Roads 2016 Honorable Mention, AIA Central Virginia 2016 Best Project Award for Sports/Entertainment, ENR Mid-Atlantic 2016 Institutional Sports & Recreation Award, Greater Richmond Association for Commercial Real Estate

Exterior

Located on West Marshall Street the new VCU Basketball Practice

The basketball practice courts are the heart of the new facility

Facility provides both the men’s and women’s programs with

and are available day and night for players and coaches to hone

state-of-the-art facilities in one 58,000 square foot, two-story

their craft. Not merely gymnasiums, the courts pulse with the

building that will aid in recruiting and player/team development.

vibrancy of the basketball programs while offering an unparalleled set of immediately-accessible amenities, including strength and

The design celebrates the activities within the facility and strives

conditioning rooms, physical therapy and hydrotherapy areas, and

to connect fans and passersby to the VCU Rams basketball

video viewing and editing rooms.

programs. Clerestory lighting and expanses of translucent glass foster a sense of openness and fellowship with the surrounding

The practice courts are conceived as educational environments,

campus community. Inside the facility, hubs of activity recall the

where hands-on learning and training occur seamlessly with the

vigorous momentum of the men’s “Havoc” and women’s “Fury”

help of pervasive technology and critical everyday equipment.

basketball programs and relay this focused energy palpably to

Abundant transparency offers views to and from coaches’ offices,

passersby.

conference suites, lounges, and locker rooms which wrap the courts on the upper floor. A hall of fame welcomes recruits and

The building is characterized by a strong roof line that unifies the

A Dynamic + Open Progra

donors while offering discreet glimpses of the practice courts,

various building elements and defines a block-long glass building volume. Smaller building elements “slide” under this unifying roof and engage the glass volume, breaking down the building scale

basketball offices, and weight facilities. Custom signage and

signature finishes inject a fresh aesthetic into the spaces while reflecting the urban context and excitement of Rams Basketball.

A Dynamic + Open Program

without denying daylighting through the glass clerestory.

A Dynamic + Open Program

Women’s 6

7 4

Women’s

Men’s

2 4

4 1

Men’s 2

4 1 1 2

Lobby

Streng

Court

Trainin

Video Room 8

Hydration Station

Lobby

Strength + Conditioning

Court

Training Room / Therapy

Video Room

Hydrotherapy

Hydration Station

Retail

3 7

Hydro

Retail

Floor Plan - Level 1

Strength + Conditioning

Lobby

FLOOR PLAN: LEVEL 11- A dynamic and open Floor Plan with many visual connections 5 throughout the facility for both Men’s and Women’s Basketball Programs

Court

Training Room / Therapy

Video Room

Hydrotherapy

Hydration Station

Retail

LEVEL 2

Floor Plan - Level 1

Lounge Room

Strength + Conditioning Room

VMDO Architects vmdo.com | 434.296.5684 200 E Market St Charlottesville, VA 22902 2000 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Suite 7000 Washington, DC 20006

For more information on Community work, please contact: Joe Celentano, AIA, LEED AP celentano@vmdo.com Randy Livermon, AIA, LEED AP BD+C livermon@vmdo.com