Colby College Harold Alfond Athletics and Recreation Center
Waterville, ME
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s LEED® Gold East Campus Athletic Village is a place of meeting and interaction at all hours in all seasons. It provides indoor and outdoor facilities for athletic teams, coaches, staff, and the Rensselaer community. The Athletic Village is organized along Georgian Terrace, an outdoor pedestrian space used for game-day activities, graduation, and special events. The terrace takes full advantage of the institute’s dramatic hilltop setting, with views of the Hudson River Valley spreading out beyond a double row of high-canopy ginkgo trees.
The complex includes an arena, stadium, outdoor fields, renovated track, and renovated hockey rink. Building placement reduces game-day sounds and light glare, while allowing people to filter through the site. A series of terraces provide plateaus for the Athletic Village’s sports facilities.
Welcoming students and visitors, the banded masonry arena is wrapped with intersecting metal clad and aluminum curtain wall volumes which provide views, light, and connection to the stadium. A two-story lobby houses the Hall of Fame and a student lounge and leads to basketball gyms, locker rooms, strength and conditioning spaces, and sports medicine suites. The upper level balcony and cafe overlook Harkness Track and Field and connect to the stadium concourse.
Wrapped in an aluminum screen above a masonry plinth, the RPI stadium is visually compelling. It is a three-story metal clad structure with excellent views of the track and field. Between the stadium’s horizontal louvers and masonry base, a suspended ramp and stair provide spectator circulation and ADA access to the athletic center press box, and stadium seating. First level entry points access Georgian Terrace. Second level entry points connect to the football field. At the third level, horizontal louvers enclose the open-air concourse and lead to concessions, public restrooms, grandstand, and arena, as well as private access to an upper level VIP section and press box.
For more information contact Chris Sgarzi.