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The new entry: a stone tower and timber canopy in front of the metal sports buildings

The Campus

Downingtown, PA · Completed

A roller rink expanded and transformed into an ice rink and multifunction sports facility, with a stone tower and timber canopy at its new entrance.

What we worked through

We kept the 23,000-square-foot rink building, converted it to ice and added a one-story wing at the rear. What it still needed was an entrance people could find and understand. We explored four directions for it before developing the one that was built: a two-story addition across the front, marked by a stone tower and a timber canopy. Behind its steel window wall, the lobby gathers everyone in one place, with the front desk, a lounge, locker rooms and a viewing area around it.

Location
Downingtown, PA
Status
Completed
Project
Commercial addition, Adaptive reuse
Our role
Architect — existing-conditions drawings, entrance options, design and permit drawings
Use
An ice rink and multifunction sports facility, converted from a roller rink
Additions
Two stories across the front, about 4,200 sq ft, and one story at the rear
Existing
A one-story roller rink of about 23,000 sq ft
The two-story lobby: steel window wall, stone, the stair to the mezzanine and the front desk
Inside the entrance: the glass lift beside the window wall.

From roller rink to sports facility.

What was there, what we added, the entrances we explored and what was built.

Existing metal building and parking lot before the addition
New: two-story additionExisting rink building
Entry option 1: a flat canopy on square columns in front of a two-story entry block
Entry option 2: a curved canopy and curved roof with the arena's name in large letters
Entry option 3: a tall glass entry under a raised tower, initials on the metal wall
Entry option 4: a framed entry box with a graphic sweeping across the metal wall

Entry option · March 2020 · not built

The new entry: a stone tower and timber canopy in front of the metal sports buildings
The stone tower with the Campus sign and the timber canopy over the drop-off, seen from the corner of the parking lot
The timber canopy and stone tower at the entry
The two-story lobby: steel window wall, stone, the stair to the mezzanine and the front desk
The ice rink seen through the curved glass of the lounge
123Lobby beyond

Built

Before · roller rink · 2020

Expansion · drawings · 2020

Before the work: the roller rink from the parking lot, 2020.The front elevation, simplified from our June 2020 drawings: the addition in gold, the existing rink building in gray.Option 1 of 4, March 2020. Explored, not built.Built: the tower, the timber canopy and the two-story addition.

A roller rink

The Campus started as a roller rink in a plain metal building along the highway, its entrance easy to miss.

Kept, added to, converted

We kept the rink building and built onto it. Inside, the skating rink came out and an ice rink went in.

Kept
The one-story rink building, about 23,000 sq ft
Front
A two-story addition, about 4,200 sq ft: the entrance, lobby and offices
Rear
A one-story addition
Inside
An ice rink, with a viewing area, locker rooms and dining

Four ways in, from one viewpoint

In March 2020 we drew four entrances from the same viewpoint, so the owners could compare them side by side. Choose one on the drawing.

1 · Canopy
A broad canopy shelters the entrance, with a two-story block marking the point of arrival.
2 · Curved roof
A curved roof gives the entrance its own profile, with large lettering readable from the road.
3 · Tower
A taller entrance, easier to recognize from a distance, with glass opening up the arrival space.
4 · Framed entry
A projecting frame marks the doorway, with a large graphic across the existing front.

Easy to find, arrive at and walk into

The final design brought together the tower and the canopy from the options. The tower makes the entrance easy to find from the road, the canopy shelters the drop-off, and the two-story lobby brings everyone into one place.

1 · Find it
The stone tower, seen from the road and the parking lot
2 · Arrive
A heavy-timber canopy over the drop-off
3 · Enter
One two-story lobby for everything, the rink beyond
Talk about your space
The two-story lobby from the mezzanine: the stone tower wall, the steel window wall and the stair down to the entrance
The lobby from the mezzanine: the stone tower wall, the window wall and the stair down to the entrance.
Lounge beside the rink glass: a stone fireplace wall, wood paneling and high-top tables
A lounge along the rink glass.
Reception desk, glass elevator and the stone wall of the lobby
Stone, steel and a glass elevator at the heart of the lobby.
The ice rink seen through the curved glass of the lounge
The ice, seen from the lounge.
The rink concourse: tables along the glass, the ice beyond
The concourse along the rink glass.
The timber canopy and stone tower at the entry
The timber canopy over the drop-off.
Under the timber canopy, on stone piers, straight ahead to the glass entry doors
From under the canopy, straight to the front doors.
The stone tower and its sign under the timber eave
The turf field behind the buildings
The turf field behind the buildings.

Services behind this project

Related work

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