Lubber Run Community Center by VMDO Architects

Lubber Run Community Center Arlington County Parks and Recreation

Lubber Run Community Center · Arlington County Parks and Recreation

Renewing a Community Treasure In December 2016, VMDO was selected to begin work on the replacement of the 1950s-era Lubber Run Community Center in Arlington, Virginia. In addition to a new community center building, the project includes new outdoor recreation spaces and amenities as well as underground parking on a 4.5 acre site. The center is located in Lubber Run Park, a precious natural resource in urban Arlington County. Connection to nature and preservation of open space were essential to designing the new building, and as a result, parking and some programs are located underground to allow for increased outdoor amenities at ground level. The process of designing the center highlights the importance of authentic community engagement. Robust local partnerships supported solutions for a sustainable, place-based design that integrates interior and exterior public and programmed spaces.

Lubber Run Community Center · Arlington County Parks and Recreation

Integrating Building and Landscape

The 50,000 SF facility features multipurpose rooms for recreation programs for all ages, a fitness center with locker rooms, a gymnasium, a preschool program, community meeting rooms, a kitchen, and reception and office space for county wide Parks and Recreation staff. Outdoor recreation spaces include a playground, pickleball and basketball courts, covered gathering spaces, and improvements to site circulation and streetscapes needed to facilitate access to the facility by all modes of transportation. The project seeks to blur the distinction between indoors and outdoors and promote the health and wellness of building occupants. Care was taken to maximize views to the

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outdoors from within, to provide dynamic daylighting to all of the occupied spaces, and encourage occupants to feel connected to the park landscape around them. Featuring net-zero energy design and a landscape-focused approach to the surrounding park, Lubber Run Community Center offers a holistic response to an urban challenge – ultimately creating public space that is greater and greener for residents.

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Lubber Run Community Center · Arlington County Parks and Recreation

Entry Courtyard

Entry and DPR Resource Desk

DPR Offices

Gym

Central Gathering

Locker Rooms

Art Multi-Purpose Room

Kitchen

Multi-Purpose Rooms

10 Senior’s Room 11 Active Multi-Purpose 21

12 Preschool 13 Parking Garage

14 Courtyard 15 Nature Deck

16 Bio-Filter Garden 17 Slides 18 Nature Berm 19 Fitness 3

20 Gym Track 21 DPR Offices

22 Nature Overlook 23 Community Garden 13

24 Playground 18

25 Active Lawn 26 Sports Courts 27 Rain Water Collector 28 Photovoltaic Roof (future)

Lubber Run Community Center · Arlington County Parks and Recreation

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Sports Courts

Lubber Run Community Center · Arlington County Parks and Recreation

Floor + Site Plan Upper Level 1

Fitness

Courtyard Entrance Ramp (DN)

Corridor

Service Yard

Vestibule

Community Garden

Gym Track

Nature Overlook

Front Porch

Biofilter Courtyard

Mother’s Room

Slides

Office

Playground

Open Offices

Rain Water Collector

Break Room

Active Lawn

Conference Room

Sports Courts

Park Entrance Ramp (UP)

Green / Nature Mound

Lubber Run Community Center · Arlington County Parks and Recreation

Floor + Site Plan Lower Level 1

Men’s Locker Rooms

Lounge

Women’s Locker Rooms

Kitchen

Family Locker Rooms

Resource Desk

Gym

Storage / Mechanical Rooms

Gym Lobby

Multi-Purpose Rooms

Offices

Preschool

Open Offices

Nature Deck

Conference Room

Bio-Filter Garden

Office Lobby

Courtyard

Reception Desk

Parking Garage

Lubber Run Community Center · Arlington County Parks and Recreation

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Gym + Track

Lubber Run Community Center · Arlington County Parks and Recreation

Promoting Equity, Sustainability, and Health As a LEED For Communities Platinum winner, Arlington County is a sustainability trailblazer – combining forward-thinking environmental goals into its energy-use standards while also balancing issues around livability, diversity, and increasing development. Building on this commitment to sustainability, Lubber Run Community Center was conceived as a zero-energy facility. Site layout, building massing, envelope design, and systems design were driven by the zero-energy goal of maximizing the on-site solar array while optimizing the building’s energy performance. Through thoughtful MEP systems, careful attention to acoustics, and the incorporation of biophilic elements, the building provides a comfortable interior environment with fresh air and abundant, glare-free daylight. In terms of material use, experimentation with a Thermawall system increases the project’s energy performance while decreasing the number of materials. The project also uses a glue-laminated wood structure above grade, which reduces the project’s embodied energy and provides biophilic benefits to building occupants. Trees that were felled during construction were milled and used to clad the primary circulation pathways inside.

Lubber Run Community Center · Arlington County Parks and Recreation

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Lubber Run Community Center · Arlington County Parks and Recreation

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SUSTAINABLE SITE STRATEGIES 1 Stream

7 Raised bosque

13 South-facing porch

19 Buffer berms

2 Path to stream

8 Accessible ramp

14 Rainwater harvesting

20 Garage daylight and trees

3 Bio-retention garden

9 Playground

15 Park arrival

21 Intensive green roof

4 Courtyard

10 Senior’s raised garden

16 Building arrival

22 Solar path

5 Nature lookout

11 Geothermal wells

17 Park lookout

23 Nature deck

18 Sport courts

24 Resource Protection Area

6 Protected mature trees 12 Solar array (via PPA)

Lubber Run Community Center · Arlington County Parks and Recreation

“ There was lots of community involvement and excitement surrounding the new design and plan. Attention was paid to functionality, energy efficiency, sustainability – and great design. This is truly a community project.” J ay F i s e t t e For m e r A r l in gt on C o u nty B o ard C h ai r

Lubber Run Community Center · Arlington County Parks and Recreation

Engaging the Community

Together, Arlington Parks and Recreation and VMDO developed a context-specific community engagement process involving a series of active public workshops that facilitated community feedback in an effort to promote equity, access, public health, and sustainable design. The team applied an empathetic approach to gathering crossgenerational and inter-disciplinary voices that informed the design of numerous blended spaces connected to nature – spaces inside, outside, and thresholds in between, interweaving building and landscape. Through community meetings, online feedback, and on-site engagement, community voices helped inform the initial stages of design. The first meeting focused on understanding the site and neighborhood, spatial characteristics and materials of different program spaces, and community fears and desires for the project. Design drivers were derived from this feedback as well as from existing site features, board directives, and sustainability goals. At subsequent meetings, multiple schemes were presented, evaluated and refined, resulting in a hybrid solution that is integrated into the park while still presenting a strong recognizable presence in the community.

Lubber Run Community Center · Arlington County Parks and Recreation

CHARLOTTESVILLE OFFICE 200 East Market Street Charlottesville, VA 22902 WASHINGTON DC OFFICE 2000 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Suite 7000 Washington, DC 20006 vmdo.com | 434.296.5684

For more information on Athletic + Community work please contact: Joe Celentano, AIA, LEED AP celentano@vmdo.com Randy Livermon, AIA, LEED AP BD+C livermon@vmdo.com