California Polytechnic State University, Recreation Center
San Luis Obispo, California

Cannon Design in Los Angeles
Size: 165,000 square feet
Project Cost: $57 million
Quick Tour:
- Basketball courts
- Multiuse activity court
- Fitness center
- Exercise room
- Climbing/bouldering wall
- Office space
- Volleyball courts
- Badminton courts
- Running track
- Sand volleyball courts
- 50-meter swimming pool
- Leisure swimming pool
- Lockers/showers
- Outdoor Recreation Equipment Center
- Indoor soccer
- Fitness studios
The Students at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, Calif., have everything they need with the creation of the school's new 165,000-square-foot recreation center.
The support and input from university students as well as their participation in the final design and approval helped bring the new center to life, with the goal of boosting recreation programs and helping to maximize views into the building. The project team also worked closely with the university's recreation, athletics, Kinesiology and various academic departments to help create the new center.
Considered a key element in the recruitment and retention of future students at the university, the new $57 million facility is a revamp of the former recreation center. It offers a two-court gymnasium, a one-court multiuse activity court (MAC), racquetball courts, a 20,000-square-foot exercise space, basketball courts, badminton courts, administrative offices and a running track that encircles the two-court gym. Outside the center, students can take advantage of a climbing wall and large swimming pool, as well as volleyball and tennis courts. The facility also features lockers and showers, indoor soccer and fitness studios.
From the time the new recreation center first opened in early 2012, it has been popular among students, with participation growing progressively. On average, 4,000 students go to the center each weekday and 2,000 on the weekend, which represents a big jump compared with the previous facility that attracted 2,500 on each weekday and 1,200 on the weekend.
Meanwhile, project innovations include the use of aluminum roofing panels that emulate the silhouette of the neighboring Central Coast Mountains; as well as the use of perforated metal decking as a structural component that works with the acoustical finish ceiling to make the best use of the volume of the facility.
Other aesthetic elements include large glazed areas that light up the building in the evening as a hub of activity and maximize the use of glare-free natural light throughout the building. Meanwhile, visibility and access to outdoor activities, including an existing swimming pool, are enhanced.
In regards to sustainability, the recreation center is designed to achieve a minimum of LEED Silver and incorporates multiple sustainable strategies—including adjacency to public transportation and bike routes, indirect-direct evaporative-cooling, water savings strategies, and sustainable curtainwall glazing that reduces the need for artificial lighting. Through the design, the open space that's available for program functions is greater than the building's actual footprint.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: www.asi.calpoly.edu/recreation_center
"What is most striking about this facility is the very effective use of shaded glazing to produce a wonderful quality of natural light in the building."
Greg Houston
"Architecturally a very nice complex with bold roof forms that unify the large enclosures. The interior spaces are punctuated with elegant and sometimes bold colors that provide a rich backdrop to the activity occurring within."
Bill Massey
"Exciting facility with loads of indoor and outdoor active recreation program spaces. Tremendous quality and spacious interior environments. Curved roofs offer a sense of playfulness and energy expressed throughout."
Troy Sherrard
"Bold and dramatic integration of roof forms and glazings, which is elegantly reflected within the interior."
Tom Poulos
Civil Engineer: Cannon Corp.
Landscape Architect: Carter Romanek Landscape Architects
Structural Engineer: Saiful Bouquet
MEP Engineer: P2S Engineering
Sustainability Consultant: Simon and Associates
Aquatic Consultant: Counsilman/Hunsaker
Cost Consultant: Davis Langdon
Construction Manager: Sundt Construction