Last September, the University of Saint Joseph in West Hartford, Conn., held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new 31,277-sf wing to its existing O’Connell Athletic Center that nearly triples the seating capacity of its gymnasium and is serving as a multifunctional nexus of student activities that go beyond sports.
Three years earlier, this historically all-female institution became coeducation, which meant incorporating male students into its programs and increasing its number of varsity sports. In 2017, the university had hired Jim Calhoun, the Hall-of-Fame men’s basketball coach at the University of Connecticut, to build the University of Saint Joseph’s first-ever Division 3 men’s basketball team from scratch. (Calhoun stepped down from the team’s head coach position last November.)
The building addition, designed by JCJ Architecture, includes a new gym that can accommodate up to 800 spectators (the old gym sat roughly 300), as well as four new locker rooms, an equipment and laundry room, the Beekley Center for Student Health and Wellness, and the Hoffman Lobby. Coaches’ offices are located on the second floor. A balcony seminar room, with whiteboard and conference table, overlooks the gym and can be used by all student-athletes.
The addition’s design calls attention to the school’s commitment to reinvention, by reconciling the traditional red brick colonial aesthetic of the existing campus buildings with the modern wing’s sleek glass forms, cantilevers, and projections.
The project hinged on the creation of a full-sized NCAA regulation basketball court. But the school also wanted the new building to benefit the entire campus community. The wing is located across the street from Saint Joseph’s Student Center, creating a hub of activity. The wing’s lobby serves as a ticketing and concessions area during game days, and a space with high-top tables and casual furniture where students can study and socialize.
The ground-floor health and wellness center replaces a facility that had operated from a smaller outlying building.
The $16.2 million project was completed in April 2021. Other Building Team members included BVH Integrated Services-a Salas O’Brien Company (SE, MEP, FP, Lighting Design), O&G Industries (CM), CMK LEED (sustainable design), Langan (site and civil engineering, traffic, landscape architect) Jaffee Holden (acoustics), DVS-a division of Ross and Baruzzini (security), and VJ Associates (cost estimating).
Related Stories
Giants 400 | Aug 21, 2022
Top 110 Architecture/Engineering Firms for 2022
Stantec, HDR, HOK, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill top the rankings of the nation's largest architecture engineering (AE) firms for nonresidential and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Aug 20, 2022
Top 180 Architecture Firms for 2022
Gensler, Perkins and Will, HKS, and Perkins Eastman top the rankings of the nation's largest architecture firms for nonresidential and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Aug 19, 2022
2022 Giants 400 Report: Tracking the nation's largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms
Now 46 years running, Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report rankings the largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S. This year a record 519 AEC firms participated in BD+C's Giants 400 report. The final report includes more than 130 rankings across 25 building sectors and specialty categories.
Daylighting | Aug 18, 2022
Lisa Heschong on 'Thermal and Visual Delight in Architecture'
Lisa Heschong, FIES, discusses her books, "Thermal Delight in Architecture" and "Visual Delight in Architecture," with BD+C's Rob Cassidy.
AEC Tech | Aug 8, 2022
The technology balancing act
As our world reopens from COVID isolation, we are entering back into undefined territory – a form of hybrid existence.
Multifamily Housing | Aug 4, 2022
Faculty housing: A powerful recruitment tool for universities
Recruitment is a growing issue for employers located in areas with a diminishing inventory of affordable housing.
University Buildings | Jul 11, 2022
Student life design impacts campus wellness
As interior designers, we have the opportunity and responsibility to help students achieve deeper levels of engagement in their learning, social involvement, and personal growth on college campuses.
University Buildings | Jul 6, 2022
Wenzhou-Kean University opens a campus building that bridges China’s past and future
After pandemic-related stops and starts, Wenzhou-Kean University’s Ge Hekai Hall has finally begun to see full occupancy.
University Buildings | Jun 9, 2022
IDEA Factory at U. of Maryland defies gravity
The E.A. Fernandez IDEA Factory at the University of Maryland’s A. James Clark School of Engineering has a gravity-defying form: The seven-story building’s solid upper floors emerge above the lighter, mostly glass base.
University Buildings | Jun 7, 2022
Newfoundland university STEM building emulates natural elements, local traditions
Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN) recently opened a new building that will provide interdisciplinary learning and research space for Faculties of Science and Engineering.
