The Lawrenceville School Master Plan and Implementation
Lawrenceville, NJ
Putting practice and performance under one roof and pushing spatial bounds to create an all-encompassing sports center
Deerfield Academy Athletics Complex
Program spaces are organized around the central lobby and are linked through glazing
Sasaki recently completed work with Deerfield Academy on a complex athletics and recreation project that involves the addition of an indoor field house, tennis center, crew tank, and the replacement of its ice hockey rink. This 132,000-square-foot facility is the latest piece of the existing sports complex, continuing the tradition of linking all venues under one roof.
The 132,000-square-foot addition adds an indoor field house, tennis center, crew tank, group exercise spaces, and new locker rooms and replaces the existing ice rink
Site plan
The upper lobby opens onto the field house and provides lounge spaces for gathering and events
View from lobby looking into field house
The southern windows inside the field house provide expansive views out to hills and flood the space with natural light
An indoor running track circles the upper level of the field house
Field house view of elevated indoor running track
Indoor field house provides flexible space for athletics and recreation activities
An indoor running track circles the upper level of the field house
Field house view of elevated indoor running track
Indoor field house provides flexible space for athletics and recreation activities
The existing ice rink lies at the western end of the sports building, bounded by a cemetery to the west, wetlands to the south, and the main campus road to the north. The new design respects these constraints but gains substantial footprint area by turning the new rink ninety degrees and pushing it as far west as possible. This strategy opens up more useable space in the gap between the west end of the old building and the east side of the new rink. The building’s main venues and recreational spaces are organized around the central lobby.
The building form and material choices draw from the vernacular architecture of the surrounding historic village
The central stair carries visitors down from the main lobby into a secondary gallery space overlooking the ice rink
Group exercise space also opens up to the site’s southern views
View looking across the ice rink into the lower lobby
From the gallery, fans can overlook games in the new ice hockey rink
More multi-use rooms on the lower lobby level provide additional space for yoga and other activities
Indoor crew talk for year-round training
The central stair carries visitors down from the main lobby into a secondary gallery space overlooking the ice rink
Group exercise space also opens up to the site’s southern views
View looking across the ice rink into the lower lobby
From the gallery, fans can overlook games in the new ice hockey rink
More multi-use rooms on the lower lobby level provide additional space for yoga and other activities
Indoor crew talk for year-round training
Sasaki’s design clarifies circulation and wayfinding through this venue-rich complex, while providing state-of-the-art facilities and associated support space for ice hockey and indoor practice of baseball, softball, lacrosse, soccer, track, tennis, crew, and golf.
Within the building, the program is stacked on three levels, to take advantage of the topography and maximize views to the hills
The overall volume of the addition is broken into three main elements, respecting the height of other campus buildings and allowing different regional typologies to be expressed through the building envelope
The project is weaved into the fabric of the existing athletics complex and completes a composition of structures with Deerfield’s squash center and natatorium.
The southern side of the building opens onto outdoor athletics fields
In October 2019, the new athletics complex was officially certified as a LEED Gold project
The field house serves as a beacon of activity through every season
The addition seamlessly integrates into the campus by respecting the site’s materiality and height constraints
In October 2019, the new athletics complex was officially certified as a LEED Gold project
The field house serves as a beacon of activity through every season
The addition seamlessly integrates into the campus by respecting the site’s materiality and height constraints
This all-encompassing sports center serves the entire Deerfield Academy campus community
