Architects have taken the art of gym design to new heights over the past few years. For proof you only need to flick through the annual Athletic Business Architectural Showcase. That’s where you’ll find the best athletic facility building projects of the year.
To make it onto this prestigious list a facility must be of the highest quality in design and capabilities, so only the best will do. Eight projects featuring Draper products were included in the 2019 edition of the Architectural Showcase.
Volkar Center for Athletic Achievement
Spokane, Washington’s Gonzaga University is well-known to many people thanks to their rise to the elite level in college basketball. Unfortunately, while Gonzaga did have an excellent athletics complex, it was still lacking a few things necessary to maintain that success.
The Volkar Center for Athletic Achievement was the answer to that need. The 51,240-square-foot facility includes Draper wall pads in its practice facility.
Click here for a closer look.
Providence College: Ruane Friar Development Center
Providence is another college basketball power that found its facilities falling behind the needs of a successful program.
The new Ruane Friar Development Center (RFDC) solves that imbalance, while also serving as a campus destination for students beyond the world of athletics to be a home for the “Friar family.”
Draper’s wall pads and graphic wall pads provide stunning visual support and vital safety in the practice gym.
Check out the project here.
San Francisco State University, Mashouf Wellness Center
Finding a healthy mind-body balance is the goal of the Mashouf Wellness Center. The center is designed to provide a diverse population a wide range of activities, including swimming, climbing, yoga, court sports, and more.
The center is seeking LEED Platinum certification, and includes basketball backstops, divider curtains, and wall padding by Draper, allowing multiple simultaneous activities.
Check it out here.
Coe College Athletics and Recreation Complex
Coe College is located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Their problem was quite different. From the Athletic Business project description:
“Coe College set out to transform its athletic and recreation offerings by maximizing its existing inventory of facilities. In the 1930s, Eby Fieldhouse was constructed at the north end of the campus quad. Several decades later, a natatorium was added to the east, followed by the construction of the Clark Racquet Center. Given the tight site constraints, the expansion wraps around three sides of the existing natatorium.”
Draper provided basketball backstops and divider curtains for the project. Click here for a closer look.
Wake Forest Wellbeing Center
This project involved transforming the former Reynolds Gym into what is now the Wake Forest Wellbeing Center. The updated facility is used for student recreation and wellness and student health services. It also serves as home for the school’s women’s volleyball team. The 40,000-square-foot expansion and renovation includes Draper basketball backstops, gym dividers, volleyball systems, wall padding, and indoor soccer goals.
You can find more information and photos here.
Aramark Student Training and Recreation Complex
Philadelphia’s Aramark Student Training and Recreation Center (STAR) brings several athletic, academic, and recreation programs under one roof. The facility includes an indoor turf field, classrooms, laboratories, weight rooms, and office space.
Draper’s contribution was to provide wall padding. For details, click here.
The Broadview Heights Community and Recreation Center
This Ohio project added 50,000 square feet of new construction to allow the facility to provide a wide variety of programs.
The full list, from Athletic Business: “… a natatorium with lap lanes, a lazy river, waterslides, a climbing wall, activity space, a zero-depth entry area with play features, a sundeck, modern locker rooms, family changing cabanas, a sauna, a steam room and a whirlpool. There is also a state-of-the-art fitness center, an indoor track, childcare services, a two-court gymnasium, an auxiliary gymnasium, casual activity and vending space, a game room, two meeting rooms, three multipurpose rooms, two group exercise rooms, a personal training studio, a cycling studio, and a massage studio.”
Draper equipment plays a role in many of the facility’s offerings, including basketball backstops, gym dividers, volleyball equipment, badminton equipment, wall pads, and gym control systems.
More information and photos can be found here.
Center of Recreational Excellence (CORE)
This Hobbs, New Mexico, facility indoor provides recreational amenities throughout the year for Lea County.
“The innovative design includes leisure and competition aquatics, an indoor therapy pool, a multipurpose room, meeting spaces, indoor soccer space, a multi-activity court (MAC) gym,” said the Athletic Business write-up, “a fitness center, a jogging track, a large indoor children’s play structure and many other community amenities.”
Click here to check out this project, including Draper basketball backstops, gym dividers, and wall pads.
As evidenced by the range of projects above, Draper’s designers can provide solutions that will custom fit into the most innovative gym designs. To see our full range of offerings, click here to go to our website, then click on the “Gymnasium Solutions” link.
