Boston – The Walter C. Johnson Center for Health and Wellness, designed by Boston-based ARC for the Hackley School in Tarrytown, NY, was honored with a 2021 Facilities of Merit Award® by Athletic Business.
The annual juried award program, now in its 41st year, recognizes ten projects from across North America as outstanding examples of excellence in sports, wellness, and recreation architecture.
The 115,000 square-foot, LEED Gold Johnson Center houses three basketball courts, eight squash courts, an eight-lane competition pool, a cardio fitness center, a fencing studio, a wrestling room, a free weights room, a modified indoor track, three classrooms, a wellness studio, a teaching kitchen, and spaces for nutrition education, yoga, and emotional health and meditation programs. A lobby café, extending outside into a courtyard, acts as a community hub and gateway to the activities within. An important element of the design is the integration of flexible education and social spaces for community celebrations, speakers, concerts, and alumni events.
“Working with ARC, we were able to design a building that integrates wellness into the whole student experience,” said Hackley School’s Head of School Michael Wirtz. “The Center’s interior spaces, unlike most traditional athletic and recreation facilities, are filled with natural light and provide beautiful views out to the campus and adjacent woodlands.”
The Facilities of Merit Award® winners are selected based on plan efficiency, functional relationships and measures taken to maximize use of space, interior finishes, exterior design, relationship of building to site, and the cost of construction for value received.
“We are thrilled to receive this honor and to celebrate the Johnson Center’s recognition with our clients at The Hackley School,” said ARC Principal Peter Reiss, AIA, LEED AP. “We challenged ourselves to design a place where every individual in the Hackley School community feels a clear sense of belonging and an eagerness to participate in the Center’s diversity of athletic and health programs.”
