Everett Community College Student Fitness Center

The Everett Community College Student Fitness Center design emphasizes openness and connections that let the sights and sounds of activity fill the building. Three glazed, double-height entries welcome students, and two interior circulation commons linking the entries converge at the reception/control area, providing visual connection to the entire facility. The facility is organized as a large gymnasium volume flanked by three lower building "bars" containing storage and utilities, locker rooms and offices, and fitness and multipurpose rooms. A fitness balcony houses treadmills and stationary cycles, allowing students to see and be seen.

Use of dynamic colors and graphics energize the setting. Vibrant hues accent the primary circulation paths to connect activity spaces and a running track outfitted with a bright wood ribbon to mirror the flow of activity. Materials salvaged from the college's old gym provide a sense of continuity; maple floorboards have reappeared as wall paneling in the building's main corridors and in the gym, creating a warm and tactile interior. An architectural insulated metal panel system, similar to that used in industrial buildings and hangars, provides an efficient and innovative means of cladding and insulating the gym. Flanking support bars are clad in brick reminiscent of the architectural materials found elsewhere on campus.

Windows within reach from the interior operate as sliding doors, bringing in fresh air and light. Together with skylights, relief vents and double-height spaces, they accentuate a feeling of participation in the great outdoors.