28 Nov 2019
Hufft create industrial fitness centre with refined design touches
BY Stu Robarts
Hufft have created a community fitness centre in Humboldt, Kansas, that reflects the US city's industrial roots through a bold design and considered, high-quality materials.
The 10,000sq ft (930sq m) facility was originally conceived as an amenity for the workforce of a local business, but the concept was ultimately developed to cater for the whole community.
The centre is, in many ways, unremarkable, but stands out for a number of refined design touches and the quality of its finishes.
Its form references a single-storey industrial shed, clad in a metal-panelled exterior, but the peaked roof is offset from centre and one side of the building slightly lower than the other, skewing the archetypal design.
Matthew Hufft, principal at the Hufft, said: "The simple agrarian form makes it familiar and not too foreign."
In addition, angled sections are cut out of the building's ends and their façades covered in raised, diamond-shaped panels with a rust-like colour that contrasts the building's otherwise grey exterior.
The unusual shapes created by this collection of design elements catch the eye and allow for additional glazed aspects that bring natural light into the building.
Full-height glazing along one side of the building fills the exercise spaces with natural light and gives users expansive views of outside.
An accompanying canopy running along the top of the glazing provides shade and helps to moderate solar gain.
The centre's bold, tough exterior gives way to warmer, softer materials and colours inside.
In the exercise spaces, light-coloured woods and neutral tones create a bright and welcoming environment, while the changing areas are tiled flooring and offset tiled walls, high-quality fixtures and bright lighting.
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