University of Colorado Boulder Recreation Center

As Saunders' fourth project for University of Colorado Boulder, this project includes the complete renovation of the entire 235,242-square-foot facility, including significant upgrades of the building systems to address deferred maintenance needs.

Three separate additions provide space for expanded strength and conditioning areas, a new ice arena, a three-story rock climbing gym, indoor tennis courts and a new indoor turf multi-activity gym. The additions required an excavation of approximately 18 feet deep (33,000 cubic yards of dirt) and nearly five months of campus utility relocations. In addition, the facility required replacing some of the foundation walls to support the new additions.

The aquatics area, including competition swim lanes, received a complete renovation including a new corrosion-resistant roof, new deck tile, as well as updated and code-compliant pool equipment. The Recreation Center is designed and constructed to meet LEED Platinum Certification. To meet the Innovation Points, the team devised a system to divert the excess heat from the ice arena to heat the swimming pool, ensuring that this offset energy is not lost.