Aramark Student Training and Recreation Complex

Philadelphia, PA
Construction Cost: 26,500,000
Area / Square Feet: 110,751
Occupancy Date: August 2017

The Aramark Student Training and Recreation Center (STAR) brings a variety of athletic, academic and recreation programs together in one cohesive facility. The facility addresses critical needs for the campus, providing additional weight room space, an indoor turf field for intramurals and athletics, laboratories and classrooms for the College of Public Health, and offices for the athletic department.

The main lobby space was conceived to provide visual access to each of the building’s functions, with entrances from the lobby for two stories of the College of Public Health, the indoor turf field and the recreation center.

The building sits on what had previously been an outdoor track that was available to the community. To maintain this public amenity, a two-lane jogging track around the building was added to the project. The entrance faces three sides of a campus intersection that features large brutal existing structures. In response, the center pulls back from the corner to create a plaza space and adds glass in a tall lobby with a climbing wall to invite students into the building. The facility integrates classroom, athletic and recreation functions in one cohesive project that transforms this corner of campus.