The Recreation Center Fields are the primary outdoor recreation area for the University of California Santa Barbara and serves as home to several club sports. This project involved the renovation of three existing multiuse fields and expansion to include a fourth — a standalone synthetic turf lacrosse and soccer field with concrete seating, new field lighting, a scoreboard and ornamental perimeter fencing and walls to provide enhanced circulation and safety. Construction of a retaining wall incorporated a concrete seating area with decorative tile work.
The field expansion required significant earthwork, including the removal of a large berm, opening up a view corridor connecting university residences with the central campus through the recreational fields and adjacent athletic areas. Several utilities in the field area were relocated or lowered to accommodate the field grading, but special care was taken to protect and incorporate several old-growth oak trees on the site.
With approximately 14,000 people commuting on or to the UCSB campus by bicycle each day the university is in session, the project design was coordinated closely with the adjacent pathway system.
