Ontario Recreation Center
ONTARIO RECREATION CENTER
Location: Ontario, Ohio
Completion Date: TBD
Project Size: 28,740 sf
Site Plan
Site Location
The proposed site for the OSU / Ontario Rec Center fits in at the edge of the proposed town center for Ontario. It is within easy walking distance of the proposed retail and residential buildings, while still providing ample parking in the rear for those arriving by car. The building faces the proposed urban street edge in one direction, addressing the building opposite it, and a park in the other direction. Its facades will easily transform from expressive in the existing natural condition, to addressing urban facades in future developments. The location provides stunning sight lines both to and from the proposed Town Hall building, adjacency to the natural landscape and close proximity to the OSU Mansfield campus for student and faculty use.
Schematic Organization
The proposed building massing and organization for the OSU / Ontario Rec Center embodies the civic design principles at an architectural scale. While cognizant of its sitting within the urban context, the building organization reinforces these site relationships while expanding them throughout the building.
![Schematic Plan Organization [Monumentality // Balanced Symmetry]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/608023f5eb37321661ef4b1c/1624975839943-4KS6M2NVVNZKGQ69FRR5/Schematic+Organization+Diagrams-01.jpg)
Schematic Plan Organization [Monumentality // Balanced Symmetry]
![Schematic Plan Organization [Regularity // Rhythm // Large Openings // Permeability]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/608023f5eb37321661ef4b1c/1624975865170-0894M1DP9ON97DBY08F1/Schematic+Organization+Diagrams-02.jpg)
Schematic Plan Organization [Regularity // Rhythm // Large Openings // Permeability]
Early Schematic Designs
Schematic Organization
Conceptual Design
The proposed building massing and organization for the OSU / Ontario Rec Center consists of two defining architectural elements, a datum and the objects organized along it. The objects define specific programmatic functions, each one distinct from the other. The datum acts as a organizing element along which difference can be read, it unifies these disparate programs into one building - a community center, a fitness facility, and a daycare.
Datum: An element which difference is read unifies other disparate elements
Objects: Program defining volumes each different, distinct from one another
Object / Datum Interaction
The interactions between the Datum and the Objects is clear on the interior of the building. In most cases, the Object “wins” over the Datum, its geometry remaining in tact while the Datum is interrupted temporarily. This allows the Objects to provide double height spaces that connect program and provide a certain amount of way-finding in the building. The protrusion of the Object over the top of the datum also provides clerestory windows, washing the double height spaces and those surrounding it in natural light.
Clerestory Lighting: The protrusion of the object over the Datum provides opportunity to bring natural light into the spaces below.
Objects VS Datum: Internally, the object often “wins” over the datum, its geometry remaining in tact while the datum is interrupted temporarily.
Spatial Programming
Overall Bubble Diagram
First & Second Floor Bubble Plan
Material Study
Borrowing from rich colors and textures from nearby Ontario, Mansfield, and the OSU campus, the juxtaposition of rugged and industrial black composite panels, paired with the lightweight colored glass, are reminiscent of both the region’s past and future.
Brick Vernacular - Ontario City Hall
Desaturated ‘White’ Brick
Inverted ‘Black‘ Composite Panels
Corrugated Metal Panels
Phase 2: Expansion
Site Plan with Addition
The proposed design for the OSU / Ontario Rec Center is organized in a way that lends itself to future expansion. The datum is an extendable feature, it already suggests continuation along the Wellness Wing, unlike the Community Wing, which is capped by the Object defining the Daycare. The fitness wing could be extended to include a small Rec Pool, and it would be capped by another Object, providing space for a Multipurpose Athletic Space. At this point the building would be in its completed state, the bookended by Objects on either end.
