Invited Competition: Brown University

Scope: New entry to athletic complex, including fitness center with climbing wall, exercise rooms, gyms, and changing areas

Brown solicited designs for a fitness center within the Erickson Athletic Complex, a jumble of large buildings that lacked connection to the landscape and one another. Our proposed design is highly mindful of Brown’s urban setting, historic buildings, and patchwork of gardens and civic landscapes. It seeks to bring order and cohesiveness to the athletic complex within this context by placing the building—which is open and transparent—on the street. Siting it directly on Hope Street allowed us to create a new portal to the complex plus a large courtyard in the very center. This elegant solution diminishes the bulky scale of the existing athletic facilities, energizes the street edge and makes a new green space in keeping with Brown’s urban campus design.