Naval Station Newport Fitness Center

This 66,000 s.f. Fitness Facility offers an NCAA-sized gymnasium for basketball and volleyball with an elevated running track, a 5-lane, 25 meter recreational swimming pool, 2 racquetball courts and a large open fitness area with approximately 150 pieces of exercise equipment.  Locker rooms and administrative office space support the facility which provides individual and group physical fitness opportunities 18 hours daily for Navy personnel and their families.

The project was awarded through a federal design/build program which mandated not only an energy efficient, Silver LEED certified building, but also requested a building of “award-winning” caliber.  The former Fitness Center was housed in a 50-year old, windowless Quonset Hut. The goal for the new building was to deliver a facility that would encourage fitness and readiness by providing an inviting and inspiring environment.

The building is composed of three masses roughly corresponding to the three major activities housed in the facility:  Gymnasium, Natatorium and Fitness.  The main entrance is the building’s focal point; facing Narragansett Bay with a 40’ high outward sloping, curtainwall, topped by a wave-shaped roof structure. A nautical theme was established through the use of a stainless steel “gang-plank” entrance ramp and the heavy chain used to suspend the vestibule canopy from the curtainwall.

Within the lobby, alternating matte and gloss banding of navy blue aligns with the exterior masonry banding.  From the lobby, the intense activity of the fitness area is immediately visible and motivating.  The centrally located lobby desk is “canted” both in plan and section to not only echo the curtainwall but to permit views of the entrance and the fitness area.

The stair connecting the two levels of the facility features an open porthole which allows light from the lobby to filter into the stair.  A turret located at the corner of the fitness facility serves as a beacon to all who cross the main bridge between the two islands that make up the base.

While providing the features highlighted above, the building had to overcome several site challenges:  the proposed site is located within the FEMA floodplain and was also a Superfund site.  To overcome the floodplain and potential damaging wave action, the building is located 5’ above the surrounding grade, completely open below to let floodwaters pass through.  The building was also built on 437 drilled mini-piles to minimize disturbance of the contaminated soil.