Ashburn Recreation and Community Center
Loudoun County, Virginia
In Collaboration with Page
-
Aquatic Centre (10-Lane 50m Competition Pool, Leisure Pool, Spa Pool, Spectator Seating, Changerooms), FIBA-Sized Gymnasium, Indoor Track, Fitness Conditioning Space, Child Care, Community Hall, Teaching Kitchen, Splash Pad, Playground, Multi-Use Trail, Outdoor Fitness
-
Structural: Ehlert Bryan
Mechanical / Electrical: Henry Adams
Civil: Christopher Consultants
Landscape: Rhodeside & Harwell
Although well-established and well-served, Loudon County, Virginia, a growing bedroom community northeast of Washington, D.C., had no major public place for the community to gather. The 123,000 sf Ashburn Recreation and Community Center provides a new social hub and aquatics facility for the County, offering opportunities for all residents.
The complex’s design focuses on the integration of interior and exterior spaces, the latter including a community lawn and a playground adjacent to the childcare centre. In the aquatics hall, the leisure and 10-lane-50m pools are separated by a wet classroom and double-sided lifeguarding office, a configuration that allows simultaneous observation of both basins and the tandem operation of competition and community programming.
A series of large sawtooth skylights and extensive perimeter glazing flood diffuse natural light throughout the plan.
The Community Centre’s site is surrounded by parkland, with trails and residential neighbourhoods nearby.
The building’s roughly U-shaped plan defines a generous public entrance plaza and gathering place where a deep overhang offers shelter. This configuration also allows all primary interior programs to have views or access to the outdoors.
The double-height lobby fronts the plaza, creating a continuous indoor-outdoor social space. The lobby’s linear form also gives ready access to all major program spaces.
The complex’s east wing has multipurpose community rooms, a teaching kitchen, and a multi-classroom early childhood centre — all of which open to the outdoors.
