RECenter
East Hampton, New York

21,000 SF • 1,950 SQ M

This recreational center serves the children and families of East Hampton by providing a variety of athletic and computer facilities, as well as areas for informal relaxation to a community previously lacking in outlets for both children and adults. The building includes a gymnasium, two swimming pools, a lounge and multipurpose areas for the use of school children from kindergarten through 12th grade.

The L-shaped, single-story building introduces a 25-yard-long lap pool with six lanes, an L-shaped multipurpose pool, and a variety of lounge and fitness areas divided by a ramp that leads up to a mezzanine-level informal eating area. With a building height of 20 feet, the mezzanine is raised high enough to allow the introduction of two multipurpose rooms for crafts and other activities underneath.

To create an atmosphere of warmth and light, the RECenter’s façade is clad in cedar ship siding with generous window areas also framed in wood. Cedar wood louvers provide sun shading on the south façade. Inside, a skylight follows the extended diagonal path of the first section‘s ramp, suggesting a further separation of the fitness area from a computer lounge. The exposed studs on the building’s wood frame further add to the warmth and texture of the interior. Visitors enter the RECenter from a courtyard that overlooks a baseball field of a nearby grade school. During the summer, the series of doors that divide the lap pool from the courtyard can be opened to permit sunbathing.

(Photography by Paul Warchol)