Featured Project

OLD HAMPTON COMMUNITY CENTER
City of Hampton
Hampton, Virginia

MMM Design Group is providing design services for improvements to Old Hampton Community Center and historic Grant Circle Park. Located near the historic downtown district, the project seeks to create a contemporary sense of place for this diverse urban neighborhood while anticipating the future needs of the City for recreation and community gathering. The project is intended to become a beacon for the City as the only remaining green space left in the downtown urban core. LEED Silver certification was added to the scope of work during design development.

Key to the project included a needs assessment of the local community followed by the necessary programming to meet those needs in the revitalized community center and the park’s public amenities. Another key element was the ability to assess the 13-acre site to best accommodate the new community center within the park and the contiguous neighborhood properties, roads and existing utility infrastructure.

MMM had to consider the replacement facility within a number of site parameters based on stakeholder feedback. The new community center had to “fit in” with the neighborhood setting and its relationship to the surrounding inner city area. Formulation of a traffic and parking strategy that was integrated with pedestrian circulation, local road alignments, facility access requirements, establishment of additional surface parking areas, and the best land use of the historic park, were all paramount considerations for the design team. No less important were such design features as enhanced pedestrian-scaled lighting and line-of-sight openess, to promote patron safety and security throughout the new facility and park. Facade and massing impact of the new facility was carefully weighed against current and future planning scenarios envisioned for City of Hampton neighborhood development.

Based on the preferred alternative, the design of the replacement of the existing facility was a 32,000 SF state-of-the-art community center that included practice locations for groups within and outside of the immediate community, a neighborhood fitness facility, a 5,200 SF wing devoted to early childhood programs, and a community gathering area for groups of all ages from toddlers to senior citizens. Universal design features were integrated into the design to accommodate programs for senior citizens that include hand rails, hallway and bathroom accessibilty for wheelchairs, lightweight doors, and assistive/resistive water currents in the community center aquatic pool for physical therapy and rehabilitation. Building sitework included parking lot and landscaping, plus site utilities for storm drainage, sanitary sewer and water distribution from existing City systems within 300 feet of the site. The project also included significant MEP design for building infrastructure, plus power and telecommunication coordination with franchise utility companies.

During design development, the City opted to incorporate LEED sustainable design featues for possible LEED Silver certification. LEED certification activities included development of a LEED checklist and completion of design activities to enable the City to document LEED Silver certification with the U.S. Green Buidling Council.

Execution of the design was undertaken in AutoDesk's innovative Revit® software, which utilizes the Building Information Model (BIM) design package. The design software allowed for improved visualization during design charrettes and enhanced inter-disciplinary coordination. Because BIM identifies system conflicts during design, the potential for added construction costs due to change orders could be significantly reduced.