A new recreation center under the sun
Ross Farnsworth - East Valley YMCA
Mesa, Arizona
The New Osteopathic Health Campus of A.T. Stills University was in need for a Recreation Center and offered the YMCA to partner up for a new facility serving the East Valley Community along with the students. While initial plans included additional campus functions such as food service and daycare, the current 2-story build-out provides full YMCA programs, including child care, swimming pool, gym, climbing wall, fitness center, strength training, teen zone, aerobics, and administration.
The design protects the program spaces from the harsh western sun, while opening up to a protected entry canyon and numerous shaded areas. This project won the 2010 Arizona Masonry Guild Honor Award, and raised an additional $1M donation on opening day for naming rights. Sophia Sparklin served as the Project Architect for this project while working for Arckitekton.
Completion: 2007
Building Area: 30,000SF
“Sophia always was easy to work with and came to each meeting with ideas on how to accomplish the owner’s requests. Her knowledge of the industry and being able to review the details with me as we went through a large $4.5 million project was always a pleasure because her desire was for the best project and to have the end result be good for the entire team.”
- Steven Stoaks, President – Reliance Build Inc
