Bold metal building design reflects school’s athletic program
When Poly Prep Country Day School set out to build
The Novogratz Center for Athletics on their campus in Brooklyn, N.Y., they envisioned the facility as a flagship addition to their prestigious athletics program. The new athletic center-designed to accommodate wrestling, squash and other court-sports-would feature state-of-the-arts facilities, enabling Poly Prep to host major athletic tournaments and attracting top student athletes to the school. The school opted to use a pre-engineered steel building system, and chose Nucor Building Systems, Waterloo, Ind., for the 28,000-square-foot facility.
New York City-based Jack L. Gordon Architects‘ (JLGA) challenge was to create a bold design for the athletic center and integrate the pre-engineered building with Poly Prep’s historic collegiate-style campus. The design had to reflect the prestige of Poly Prep’s athletic programs and relate to the school’s existing buildings and grounds.
JLGA customized elements of the Nucor building system to achieve a unique design that responds to the client’s needs. The steel athletic center had to be integrated with the existing masonry gymnasium adjacent to it. In response, JLGA joined the two with a steel-framed glass-enclosed lobby that allows for direct access between them, and introduced a masonry-clad elevator tower as a transition piece. In the interior of the lobby, JLGA exposed the masonry wall of the existing gymnasium, an effect made possible by the use of steel. The exposed wall puts the new steel in direct juxtaposition with the existing masonry, lending a sense of history to the lobby and heightening the continuity between the two buildings.
JLGA also articulated the entrance façade of the building with a faceted feature wall, clad in natural-colored Lewisville, Texas-based Metl-Span insulated architectural metal panels that contrast with the Nucor panels. The feature wall’s distinct concave form activates the façade and-along with a Kawneer Co. Inc., Norcross, Ga., glass storefront-helps the wall match the scale of the existing campus.
The wall takes advantage of the inherent characteristics of metal to express the strength and elegance of sports, and the glass storefront dissolves the boundaries between the building and the surrounding athletic fields. Sitting above the feature wall, a row of clerestory windows lets natural light flood in and articulates the roofline as a floating element in the building’s composition.
On the south side of the building, JLGA designed an exterior staircase and covered terrace. The staircase is angled so that the terrace overlooks Poly Prep’s athletic fields and the Verrazano Bridge, helping anchor the building to its site. The angled staircase wall also responds to the angle of the entrance façade, creating an interplay of angular metal planes that lends the building a unique sculptural appearance.
The building interior was designed to accommodate a number of sports. Use of glass and steel maximized the flexibility of the facility by allowing for large open spaces and light-filled interiors. The top-floor gymnasium is designed as a first-class wrestling venue. It features retractable spectator seating and can also accommodate fencing and various court sports. The mezzanine level includes offices and restrooms and provides direct access between the building and the adjacent gymnasium. The ground floor features six squash courts, including two international-competition sized, all-glass courts with stadium-style seating.
JLGA’s innovative use of the pre-engineered steel building system allowed the firm to design a building that made a distinct architectural statement. JLGA customized the Nucor system to effectively respond to the client’s unique needs. The building-which was awarded a 2016 Society of American Registered Architects Design Award-has been praised by Poly Prep Country Day School and the architectural community at large. The center has already hosted major events, including an NCAA invitational wrestling tournament and a U.S. Squash Junior Bronze Tournament.
In an interview with Pulse, Poly Prep’s campus newspaper, the school’s wrestling coach Konstantin Adveev called the building “the best facility [for wrestling] in the city by far.” Assistant Athletics Director Ben Oliner called the center a “beam of pure energy for squash in New York,” and added that the facility puts Poly Prep “at the epicenter of the squash world.”
—
Jack L. Gordon, AIA, NCARB, found New York City-based Jack L. Gordon Architects (JLGA) in 1969. An award-winning architect, Gordon has expanded his expertise to include a wide spectrum of architectural and interior design services. Gordon’s management capabilities have ensured the successful implementation of projects for over 45 years. To learn more, visit www.jlgordon.com.