San Bernardino Valley College: Kinesiology and Athletics Complex

San Bernardino Valley College

PHOTOS © RMA PHOTOGRAPHY

San Bernardino Valley College (SBVC) in San Bernardino, CA, has grown steadily since its establishment in 1926. When the substantial 1992 Landers and Big Bear earthquakes struck the area, however, a new sense of urgency accompanied the need to better organize and integrate facilities across the campus.

When asked to design the new Kinesiology and Athletics Complex at SBVC, HMC Architects was faced with a specific geographic challenge: The San Jacinto fault zone, which runs through the San Bernardino community, diagonally bisecting the campus. HMC’s designers had to plan around the fault zone while integrating and organizing facilities across the campus to support the safety of the rapidly growing community. With the new facility’s location at the center of campus, it was important for all site utilities—including the physical education complex and grandstands—to remain functional and uninterrupted during construction. The affected buildings were then demolished and replaced, eliminating the need to build a temporary gym and producing a seamless, less disruptive, and cost-effective solution.

The result is a three-story, 108,509-square-foot facility that features two NCAA competition gymnasium spaces, athletics and PE locker rooms, exercise and dance facilities, office space, and specialized instruction spaces. The complex leads into the updated athletics quad and a new 2,500-seat stadium with concessions, ticketing, toilet rooms, team rooms, meeting rooms, and athletic storage.

Qualities from previous buildings are combined with the new building, creating a cohesive feel across the campus. The landscaping includes a new oak woodland consisting of drought-tolerant plants and walkways, which tie the complex into the overall site.

Standing bold and proud, the facility is a campus focal point—a testament to world-class care for the college’s athletes.

This article originally appeared in the College Planning & Management May 2018 issue of Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Launches New Emergency Communications System

    The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) recently deployed a new emergency notification and incident management system for its campus, according to a news release. The university partnered with 911Cellular to launch Safe@UTC, a smartphone app allowing university officials to communicate and respond during emergency situations.

  • Utah Valley University Opens New Engineering Building

    Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, recently held a grand-opening ceremony for the new Scott M. Smith Engineering Building, according to a news release. The facility is one of the largest engineering buildings in the state at almost 200,000 square feet, and it plays home to the university’s Smith College of Engineering and Technology (SCET).

  • 144-Year-Old High-School Campus Debuts New Academic Facility

    San Diego High School (SDHS) in San Diego, Calif., recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new student services and classroom building; the project is part of a larger SDHS Whole Site Modernization project that began in 2022.

  • Miami University Approves New $242M Multipurpose Arena

    Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, recently announced that its Board of Trustees has approved construction of a new multipurpose arena at Cook Field, according to university news. The $242-million project will serve as a new centralized hub for student life and create space for economic development on campus.