community CENTER

The Community Center employs a dynamic, diagonal, indoor/outdoor organizational design element intersecting a bold, circular central form to create a strong sense of place and a center for community activity and engagement. It is designed to accommodate all major programmatic uses, all of which are accessible from the central, entrance lobby space, which acts as the visual focal point and heart of the entire facility.

The structure of the Center is based upon a 20 by 20 foot grid that uses an engineered, heavy timber glulam structural system. Heavy timber was chosen to meet the demands of the unique, double curvature roof diaphragm. The design takes an “honest” approach, with structural members and MEP systems fully exposed in the ceilings. Cable suspension curtain walls are used to maximize transparency and increase natural light between the interior of the building and the courtyard. Overall, the design uses materiality and bold, simple forms, appropriately scaled, to relate to the surrounding community and deconstructs that contextual experience as one enters and interacts with the building’s unconventional interior and outdoor spaces.