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Redesign Your School Athletic Pavilion | 2014 National High School Architecture Competition #141

By Invisible | L Design a New School Athletic Pavilion

What's the problem here? Getting started on your athletic pavilion design.

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Gerald Ratner Athletics Center at the University of Chicago

Design Challenge Background

The challenge is to redesign your high school’s athletic facilities into an athletic pavillion. With national organizations emphasizing the importance of regular phyical activity to combat obesity, these spaces are more important (and used!) than ever. They are becoming communty spaces and spaces for connecting, cheering, and improving lifestyles.

Design Challenge Brief

You may redesign the interior of the existing athletic facilities, expand on the existing spaces, or design a completely new addition on to your school building. Your design should contain all the spaces and functions required for typical school athletic facilities – locker rooms, athletic equipment storage rooms, concession stands, trophy cases, water fountains, offices for athletics staff, bathrooms, exercise and weight rooms, and, of course, gym spaces. The redesigned pavillion should include ideas for both old and new ideas for athletic facilities. You should also consider sustainability issues and the environmental impact of your design.

For your Overview, it is important to post a short, but clear, ‘success statement’ that communicates the goals you hope to solve and achieve through your design solutions. When you’re nearly finished with your design project, you can go back to this success statement to see if your design has met the criteria you first proposed.

What should I upload in this Overview step?

Write a short description of the problems you will be trying to solve in redesigning your school's athletic pavilion.

So many gymnasiums look exactly the same. While there’s no way to escape the traditional layout of the basketball court that is used in almost every high school gymnasium, there is a lot that can be done to make the host structure’s layout more practical while still maintaining a look of diversity and ingenuity.

Design Problem:
Advanced Technologies Academy is the home of the nerd and the land of the geek, both of whom are notorious for choosing academics over sports. This tendency of immobile interest is exactly why A-tech’s gym needs improvement. It is important to expose students to both sides of the spectrum instead of settling on either extreme, but it is difficult to increase student enthusiasm in maintaining or obtaining a healthy body when a schools facility isn't built soundly enough to support a fast growing student body. While schools like A-Tech will never focus primarily on sports, opportunities should still be there; should still be offered and physical fitness should be encouraged. The current condition of the A-tech gymnasium is small and cramped, with limited space and equipment. The elusiveness of this equipment discourages students from participating in things such as weight training because of the discomfort of lack of personal space if they were to utilize the facility.
Design Solution:
The first thing that I would plan to do is to remove the small classroom on the corner of the building. It seems to be placed at random, and there is no logic in this isolated placement. The gymnasium itself is a practical and usable space, so I plan to leave it and redesign the structure of everything around it. The weight room in particular needs to be expanded. The weight room is where most of the problems start, and so this will be my main focus. The room needs to be larger with more equipment accessible to students in order to allow plenty of space for everyone who wants to use the weight room. A spacious layout will encourage students to go there; at the moment there seems to be no point of going because the space is always full, and for most people that is uncomfortable.

Curious about the instructions for this step of this athletic pavilion design problem? >>

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In the Collect Info step of the design process, gather as much information as possible about your school's existing athletic facilities, both indoor and outdoor. You also want to learn as much as you can about the students and staff who will use it. You can't propose new solutions until you figure out and document what the existing problems are. 

Try This

  • Take note of unsafe conditions or conditions that do not make sense (For example, not enough storage for soccer equipment; no place for fans to buy popcorn at events; no place for athletes to change clothes or store belongings).
  • Interview your school's athletic director, student athletes from various sports, and other staff and ask them what they like and dislike about the current facilities. What changes would they make to spaces if they had a choice?
  • Make a list of the features that you really like about how your athletic facilities look and function.
  • Make a separate list of all the ways your current athletic facilities are not so well designed.
  • Calculate the number of sports played at your school and the number of student athletes who play those sports. Consider how this information will affect your new athletic pavilion. How many teams will need to practice at the same time?
    • Do an analysis at different times of the day, week, or school year and create a chart or diagram with average usage and high / low points.
    • Do an analysis of the different types of equipment used by each sport. How much storage space is there currently? Is it enough? Too much?
  • Visit Flickr or another photo sharing site and search for other types of athletic facilities or gymnasioums to determine good and bad examples of how these can accommodate user’s needs.
  • Post images of buildings, colors, designs, textures, or other things that inspire you in this step. Make sure you give credit to your source!
  • Research other schools, universities, or public centers to determine good / bad examples of how athletic equipment and gear is stored and if anything is done to accommodate student athletes and the fans who use these outdoor facilities. What inspires you?

What should I upload in this Collect Info step?

Consider uploading photos, a short video, and a site plan drawing of your existing school library. Help us understand the existing conditions and the location of your spaces.

Invisible's work for the Collect Information step:

Summary
The Advanced Technologies Academy Gymnasium is old and sloppily put together as if it was an afterthought.
This is the entire gymnasium from the front.
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This is the entrance to the gymnasium. Several problems can be spotted, including a hole that was...
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This image depicts the door to the health classroom that is attached to the side of the gym. It...
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This image depicts one of the only windows in the building, demonstrating a serious lack of natural...
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Here, the issue of lighting is once again addressed, this time covering artificial lighting and...
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The exterior face of the gymnasium is cracked and damaged in multiple places. This images shows one...
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This is the original gymnasium layout.
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Columbia University Campbell Sports Center © Iwan Baan

In the Brainstorm Ideas step of the design process, you start to be inspired by new places and you put some early ideas down on paper that show what you've found in the Collect Info step. You also might take more photos to show specific new ideas you have. 

The simple diagrams you make here will help you understand how the existing library location and design compare with your new ideas.

Try This

  • Draw a floorplan of your existing facilities. How are all of the different athletic spaces connected? What are the different pathways you can take through all of these spaces? Map all of these rooms and spaces.
  • Use Google Maps to view and print out an aerial photo of your school. Take measurements of the overall dimensions of your existing athletic facilities, both indoor and outdoor and use the aerial to map out the measurements.
  • Post this aerial map and sketch here so everyone can understand the relationship between your school building, the athletic fields, and the proposed site of your new pavilion. Describe the surrounding area and note existing structures such as the field, track, seating, storage, locker rooms, concession stands, and any fences. 
  • On a piece of tracing paper placed over the aerial photo of your school, sketch a diagram showing a large arc around the building to show the path of the sun throughout the day.  This drawing is called a site analysis diagram.  (Remember, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west.)

Think About

  • Will your new athletic pavillion replace your school's existing athletic facilities or become an addition to a different part of the building? Will it be built in an empty lot or space?  Will it be underground or built on the roof?  You decide.
  • Spend some time looking at the aerial photo of your school.  What types of other buildings surround your school?  Homes, businesses, parks, parking lots, or an empty field?  How will these other buildings impact the design of your new athletic pavillion?
  • What types of streets surround your school? Are they busy or quiet?   
  • Based on the site analysis diagram you've sketched, where is the sun located throughout the school day?
  • How can the indoor and outdoor areas of your new athletic pavillion be positioned to take advantage of the sunlight for good lighting?

What should I upload in this Brainstorm Ideas step?

Consider uploading hand sketches or a quick study model of all your first ideas. You can scan these drawings or take photos of your model.

Invisible's work for the Brainstorm Ideas step:

Summary
Brainstorming is the fun part of the designing process, but it can also be the most difficult. It is not always easy to become inspired.
This is an idea I had about a built in raised platform that could be used by speakers during...
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This drawing stemmed from the need to integrate more natural lighting into the structure than was...
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This is a drawing where I was still including room 902 into the layout. In this sketch, I tried to...
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This is the main progression of my floor plan ideas. I started with bubble maps, creating a rough...
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This was a quick sketch illustrating an early design idea. I was thinking of making part of the...
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WMS Boat House at Clark Park © Steve Hall Hedrich Blessing

In the Develop Solutions step, your rough ideas come together with drawings and models that can show others your solutions for a new library.

Important! Since DiscoverDesign is about investigating the design process, the other people viewing your project - other students around the country, your teacher, and the mentors - want to see how your ideas have changed over time. This means that while you're working on your digital model, you’ll want to be sure to keep re-saving it with a new file name every few days as you work through the steps.

Try This

  • Draw a sketch or use software such as Google SketchUp, AutoCAD, or Revit to illustrate your ideas.  You can upload photos (JPG files) from your SketchUp model, video fly throughs (FLV files) of your SketchUp model, or drawings (DWF files) from AutoCAD.
  • Determine the best location for your new structure. Make side notes of where new elements may go or how you would change what is currently in place.
  • Make a list of all the unique spaces and features you plan to have in your athletic pavilion. 
  • Your athletic pavilion can include any types of spaces and features you feel are most important for your particular school, but here are a few suggestions:
    • Locker or changing rooms for home and visiting teams
    • Athletic equipment storage rooms
    • Concession stand
    • Trophy cases
    • Water fountains
    • Offices for athletic director or staff
    • Bathrooms for fans
    • Exercise or weight rooms
  • Use cardboard to create a 3D study model of early ideas. Or, create a rough digital study model of your ideas. These models don't need to show detail, just the overall size and massing for your athletic pavilion.
  • Show your ideas to your teacher and peers for some feedback. You can also review your progress with the test group you may have interviewed and test whether your design would meet their needs or address their concerns. Learn from the feedback you receive and incorporate into your final design solution.
  • Be sure to check out and make comments on other student design projects.
  • Do not leave work for the last minute! Going through a detailed design process requires time to gather information, develop ideas, and make improvements. This is difficult or impossible if you try to pull everything together a week before your project is due. Projects that are researched, developed, and well executed will always stand out!

What should I upload in this Develop Solutions step?

Consider uploading images (JPG, GIF) of your rough digital model. It's ok if your model is still a work in progress. Show an axonometric or perspective view with people, which will help others understand the scale of your library.

Invisible's work for the Develop Solutions step:

Summary
One problem with the current gymnasium is the small size of our weight room.
This is a Revit Massing of the original structure.
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This shows the gymnasium from a distance.
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The locker room and storage room area from above. The roof is removed, and there is no furnishing...
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This is Advanced Technologies Academy from above via Google Maps. The school building itself,...
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In this image, The green is the gymnasium. It is enlarged to show the room breakdown, and show that...
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Curious about the instructions for this step of this athletic pavilion design problem? >>

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Williams Natatorium at Cranbrook Academy Flickr.com © All rights reserved by Doctor Casino

The Final Design step of the design process is to create more finished drawings and models that illustrate your ideas to others. Remember, your explanation text, and the types of drawings, images, and models you share need to tell the whole story of your project to someone who may or may not have ever visited your school.

Try This

  • Review your design and test it against your original sucess statement that you wrote for the Overview. Does it meet this criteria?
  • Does your final design meet the expectations of the student athletes and athletic director that you interviewed?  If not, you may need to go back to the drawing board and revise your design.
  • For your final design, you will want to post a short but effective paragraph of your process and the unique solutions you found and developed. Tell us about your ideas and how they may or may not have changed over the course of the project.
  • You might want to share floor plans, elevations, renderings of your digital model, photos of a physical model, or a video animation of your model.
  • But you aren't done yet! Be sure to comment on other projects in the competition to foster, encourage, and build an online design community of learners in DiscoverDesign.  CAF will also recognize students that provide both encouragement and constructive criticism on students' work throughout the run of the competition.

What should I upload in the Final Design step?

Consider uploading final hand or digital renderings, images of your finished physical model, or your finished digital model (as a DWF file).

Invisible's work for the Final Design step:

Summary
In the completed design, I have made changes in an effort to correct and improve our gymnasium. Now there is natural lighting and an increase in space.
This is a close up view of the completed model of the gym. It shows the general idea of how windows...
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This view of the model shows the addition of the covered tennis area. This could be used for...
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This is a birds eye view of the structure without a roof.
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This is a sketch of my final idea for the exterior, broken up into two parts: On top is the lower...
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Key: 1. Entrance 2. Girls Locker Room 3. Girls Bathroom 4. Boys Locker Room 5. Boys Bathroom...
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