The Beede Swim & Fitness Center shares an expansive site with a regional high school and provides easy access to both students and Concord residents. The scale, alignment and building materials are similar to those of the high school, yet the facility still boasts a separate identity that harmonizes with its surroundings.
Designed to be both spacious and clearly organized, the building features a central lobby with views into all major exercise spaces and the pool area. Stairs and an elevator flank each side of the entry doors and lead to the lower-level locker rooms and pool entrance. There is a distinct absence of corridors, reducing both construction and maintenance costs.
A commitment to sustainable design within the expansive building can be seen via the suffusion of natural light through four long skylights and large expanses of glass, capturing daylight from all directions and minimizing the need for artificial lighting during the day. Frosted glass panels on the main level of the south side of the building also bring abundant natural light into the lower-level locker rooms.
The Beede Center was conceived as two separate building forms, each with its own architectural vocabulary reflecting different program uses. The front element includes administration functions, the lobby, fitness spaces and locker rooms. The mass of the natatorium, meanwhile, is reduced by setting its form into a hill.
