Recreation and athletics have a new focus at UC San Diego with the completion of the new three-level annex to the adjacent Recreational and Intramural Athletic Complex. The complex provides much-needed food and study areas, including a sports-themed café featuring fresh, healthy and organic foods, a convenience store, a coffee bar, student lounges and a conference center, as well as new NCAA Division II softball facilities with fields, dugouts, a press box and stadium seating.
The 35-foot-wide site for the building posed significant design challenges, influencing its form and organization. Located on a steep and narrow hillside, it flanks the most important pedestrian way on that portion of the campus and the existing softball field.
The building design accepts the long, linear nature of the site and exploits this otherwise difficult configuration as part of the design concept. The building features a “front porch” along the Ridge Walk to serve as the primary building entry and circulation space. It creates an active meeting and gathering spot, reinforcing the inside/outside connection. The inner porch wall is a two-story-high torqued form in a deep red/ochre rendered plaster that defines this space and runs diagonally through the entire length of the building, extending onto the outdoor patio areas.
All spaces have a direct relationship to the outside, taking advantage of the extraordinary climate and views to the foothills and the Pacific Ocean. There are four outdoor seating areas that provide excellent spectator views of the fields below. Large roll-up glass doors add to this indoor-outdoor connection.
Yawkey Sports Training Center
