California State University, Long Beach, Student Recreation and Wellness Center

Long Beach, Calif.
Construction Cost: $46 million
Area / Square Feet: 109,000
Occupancy Date: August 2010

As one of the nation's three largest universities without a campus recreation center, California State University, Long Beach welcomes, in the words of its president, "the most significant building on campus since 1972."

Visitors arrive at the lobby via a large landscaped entry plaza with adjacent outdoor pool and deck, the major activity spaces visible prior to entering. A café and lounge area overlooks the pool and activity spaces arranged on two levels along both sides of a grand circulation spine. The interior "street" maximizes views of the building’s major components, including 20,000 square feet of fitness areas, a three-court gymnasium, a two-court MAC, multipurpose rooms, two racquetball courts, a wellness center, staff offices and a jogging track.

The university motto "Go Beach" inspired colors and finishes. Blue rubber flooring on the main floor and tan athletic wood floors and stone tiles recall sand and water, while ceramic tiles and accent walls painted with reds and yellows represent the colors of a sunset on the upper level.

The exterior design concept embodies the university's tradition of mid-century modern architecture and landscape, while remaining true to the goal of connecting indoor and outdoor spaces. Employing the campus vocabulary of brick and expressed structure, as well as light-colored panels and glass, the facility is the first of a new generation of buildings that are more human in scale and yet still draw inspiration from the campus’s modernist roots.