St. Edwards Unveils Recreation, Athletic Center In South Austin

SOUTH AUSTIN, TX — St. Edwards University has released details on its new Recreation and Athletic Center, a facility that debuted last week to focus on student's health and wellness.

Designed by Specht Architects, the 124,000-square-foot building promotes holistic well-being as an addition to an existing facility, university officials explained in a press advisory. Among the new structure's amenities are yoga studios, a wellness center and meditation area amid an open space and connects to the surrounding environment in the middle of campus, officials added.
The original athletic center at St. Edward’s University that was built in the mid 1980’s was a very typical facility for its time, officials said. It featured a basketball arena, squash courts, and athletics offices but nothing in the way of facilities for personal fitness or wellness, officials added. "It was also a building surrounded by parking lots and disconnected from the heart of student life," school officials added.

Enter Specht Architects, executing a design plan for the expansive addition that not only accommodates newer ideas of wellness and mindfulness, officials noted, but knits the facility into the campus as a whole.

“The new Recreation and Athletic Center is a building that defines the St. Edward’s University campus and engages the student body, embodying the idea of fitness and wellness as a major element of a well-rounded education,” Scott Specht, the founder of Specht Architects, said in a prepared statement.

In addition to use by athletes, the spaces are offered to the entire student body and faculty. A portion of the building also extends toward the heart of campus, and incorporates outdoor “stadium type” seating facing a new plaza where performance and presentations will take place, officials said. Moreover, university officials added, the plaza creates a new pedestrian-oriented active space where the parking lot once existed.

The studio/yoga space is the focal point of the new facility, as well as a campus landmark, according to the description, and is designed as a “glass cube” that floats above the entry plaza, allowing activities to be visible to those below. It is also located at one end of the main campus green, providing an inviting presence at a corner of the campus that was previously dark and under-occupied, officials said.

“The Recreation and Athletic Center (RAC) kicks off a new era of well-being for the St. Edward’s community that aligns with our Holy Cross mission, which calls us to educate hearts and minds, and seek justice in the world," Andy Lemons, senior director of Recreation & Wellness at St. Edward’s University, said in a prepared statement. "With new spaces to support a variety of holistic, self-care experiences, the Recreation and Athletic Center provides outstanding opportunities for our students, faculty and staff to enhance their well-being as they strive to be agents of change, officials noted. In addition to new strength and fitness spaces, the facility includes Peer Wellness coaching space, health educational seminar rooms and a tech-free lounge for individuals to disconnect, meditate and live in a mindful present, according to university officials. "Our goal is to help everyone in our community commit to their personal well-being as they take on our world."

Specht Architects also designed Doyle Hall for St. Edward’s University- which garnered an AIA Design Award. The contractor was Hill & Wilkinson Construction at http://www.hill-wilkinson.com/.