Douglas B. Gardner '83 Integrated Athletic Center

This new facility houses three NCAA basketball courts equipped with competition level resilient maple sport flooring systems. Two of the courts are configured for tournament play with built-in retractable grandstands that accommodate 1,200 spectators. Volleyball and badminton may also be played on these courts. Five new international standard singles squash courts with a spectators' gallery are placed in a highly visible portion of the new facility. A well-equipped fitness center with over 100 pieces of cardiovascular, selectorized and free weight machines facilitates team and individual fitness circuit training. A new practice fencing venue and a multi-purpose room for aerobic, dance and yoga training are also included.

In support of these spaces a full range of team and individual locker room suites, along with an expanded trainer's facility are provided. A suite of offices, including a conference room, for the Department of Athletics overlooks the main lobby and court spaces below and beyond. The campus security office suite affords convenient, centrally located, round-the-clock coverage for the new facility and campus.

Gardner IAC is a modern building informed by the spirit of the College's oldest edifices. The large building program has been arranged as a collection of discrete, program-specific masses in an effort to reduce the visual impact of a single large structure. Shaped in familiar ways with gable roofs, stone base and warm stucco fields, the building recalls the architecture of the upper campus. In particular, the forms of Founders Hall served as inspiration for the architects' design efforts.

The new building is a LEED Gold Certified project. To this end, the architects selected a building site that optimizes exposure to the sun, taking advantage of natural day lighting, and harvesting solar energy with an array of hot water generating solar collectors that heats the main lobby floor and supplements the hot water needs of the buildingÃs locker areas. The building's position, set into the fall of the land, provides natural insulation for a significant portion of the structure and lowers the amount of energy required to heat and cool the space within. Selection of materials received special attention, integrating renewable resources and high-recycled content.

The design of Gardner IAC involves a straightforward use of contemporary building technology and materials tempered by an understanding of the scale and texture of Haverford College's "plain and simple" Quaker aesthetic.