Natatorium and Wellness Center

The Cuyahoga Community College addition created a new focal point and campus gateway into Tri-C’s eastern campus. Perched at the top of the winding ceremonial entry drive, the sinuous addition to the Student Services Building has given the campus a fresh new identity. The metal façade gracefully clings to the existing masonry building, forming a dramatic entry plaza that draws in the pedestrian with its curving canopy.

This transformative new addition houses a new natatorium and an expanded fitness and wellness center with associated storage, showers, locker rooms and faculty offices. A daylight flooded, two-story lobby welcomes new students into the world of higher education and provides enticing glimpses of the natatorium and fitness spaces beyond.

The dappled metal skin is constructed of stainless steel shingles coated with chromium oxide, a bronze palette that blends nicely with the existing campus masonry. The shimmering shingles change color throughout the day and hint at the presence of water on the interior. The dramatic site topography rises around the sweeping form of the natatorium, strategically creating a new second level entry at the southwest to accommodate the College’s growing master plan.