MCARTHUR SQUASH CENTER ON NBC 9

The Boar's Head Sports Club in Charlottesville has hosted professional men and women's tennis tournaments and pro squash could be next.

The club has a brand new 12-million dollar squash facility that is already regarded as one of the best in the nation.  The new courts are a big boost to squash lovers at UVa and it could bring the world's top squash players to Central Virginia.

Its not a mainstream sport, but squash is ranked as the top fitness sport by Forbes magazine and squash lovers in Central Virginia now have the one of the top facilities to play in. The brand new McArthur Squash Center at the Boar's Head has eight singles courts and is just one of just a handful of clubs in the nation to have two doubles courts.

UVa squash club team member Ned Whelan says, "This is probably thee best facility I've seen, I'm really excited we got these, I'm excited to be here for the next two years and play on these courts."

The facility was built to support and promote the sport of squash.  It has a spectacular center court with stadium seating which makes the club an ideal spot to host professional events.

The Director of Squash at the BHSC, Mark Allen says, "It's a white ball glass court and there aren't too many of those worldwide, the coverage for TV is much better you can see the ball much more clearly... We're already talking with US Squash in bringing some of the biggest championships here to Charlottesville sometime in the future, maybe the National Championships."

Right now, the squash center is home to UVa's men and women's club teams and is also used for UVa's intramural squash.

Whelan says, "There's a lot of thought in squash, people don't realize there's a lot of strategy, you're not just hitting a ball, you're playing against your opponent, and you're playing against everything he does and I love that part of it. "

Squash is one of seven sports now being considered to be included in the 2020 Olympics.

Allen says, "it's a very fast and dynamic game and its also very easy to pick up so it doesn't take long before you're able to play a good rally and get the cardiovascular part of a good workout and there's a huge strategic side to the game as well, so its a very easy game to learn but its also a very difficult game to master, so you can spend your whole life getting better at this game."

On Saturday, The Boar's Head is featuring exhibition matches and clinics which are free and open to the public.  On Sunday, everyone, not just club members, is invited to try out the new courts.

WFS SCIENCE BUILDING PROCESS

In 2008, the Board of Trustees of Woodberry Forest School approached Bartzen + Ball to design and build a new science building.

This initiative was taken on by the school as a way to intrigue its students in the field of science, and to cater to the growing number of students enrolling in the school. The school board had three options for the science building initiative: renovate the building, create an adjunction to the current building, or create a separate stand-alone building.

            The Board decided to construct a new stand-alone building after discussing ways to remedy the problems of the Gray Math Science Building, built in 1972. At first, the Board thought that renovating the school would be sufficient, considering it only had to fix some technical problems. However, after deeper analysis, they concluded that renovating the building was no longer an option. Reasons included significant water, plumbing, and electrical problems, a lack of space for students, and building stability issues that hindered the installation of new technology.

            The vision held by the Board of Trustees was to have a new stand-alone building that would fulfill all future needs of the students and the school’s science program. Through the new building, the school board intended to foster student’s enthusiasm for science while facilitating their education of scientific principles and skills. The building also aimed to help students develop critical reasoning skills that would benefit them in their future.

            In an effort to excite and include students in the new science building initiative, Bartzen + Ball held a meeting with students to gain a better understanding about student’s expectations for the building. In addition to the Board’s goals for the project, the students had many more ideas that helped the company create a more suitable architectural plan. The students envisioned that the architecture would symbolically illustrate, represent, and display science in a creative and engaging way. For example, students expressed interest in having nearby buildings and the surrounding areas represent relative distances between the orbits of planets. In addition, they imagined a building that incorporated freshwater ecosystem displays near the biology classrooms, dinosaur fossils in the lobby, and a wall that would display Virginia’s geological history.

            Students also hoped for a state-of-the-art building offering convenient study places, total WiFi, and computer terminals and monitors for their laptops.  The idea of the new building excited the students about learning science so much that they wanted the building to offer capabilities beyond those of a standard high school science building.

            Throughout the architectural process, Bartzen + Ball demonstrated its willingness to involve the client in every step. In this project, the firm was extremely in tune with the needs of the Board, teachers, and even students of school. Its close relationship with the Board meant that Bartzen + Ball was more willing to listen to its clients’ needs and modify any plans to fit discussed goals. Bartzen + Ball even took into consideration the opinions of students, and met with the Student Advisory Committee to hear feedback. In this hour-long meeting, Mr. Ball outlined the planning and construction process of the new building, showed the 3D schematics, and then open up the floor for student suggestions.

            Meetings with the Board of Trustees signified important milestones in the project and determined the direction of the project. For instance, Bartzen + Ball was asked to halt the project after the Board disapproved of the high initial price estimate.  However, once the Board approved the second estimate nine months later, the project restarted with a design team kick-off meeting. After a 16 month construction period, the highest moment in the project was the building dedication on November 10, 2012 as it symbolized the completion of the design and construction of the new Manning Science Building.

            The building was completed under budget and on time to be used for the Spring 2013 semester. Most importantly, the building has added considerable value for the school. According to Mr. Ball, the Board is extremely satisfied with the outcome of the building and will add value to Woodberry Forest School since the school now has an up-to-date facility to meet the goals of the science curriculum. The school is proud of its sophisticated science curriculum and outstanding teachers, but it did not have the facilities to match. With its new, state-of- the-art science building, Woodberry Forest School will undoubtedly attract more talented students and faculty, furthering its mission

BARTZEN + BALL ENTERS JRGRC KANAWHA PLAZA COMPETITION

Kanawha Plaza Air Bridge and Public Platform

The Kanawha Plaza Air Bridge and public platform is the missing link that connects the downtown Richmond urban fabric to the banks of the James River, directs pedestrians safely to a new vibrant city park, reorients the park to host important public events, and enlivens the Richmond city skyline.  

The cable stay structural system of the bridge contains 750 KW three wind turbines that provide power to light the tension cables at night and turn in the wind which make a symbolic connection to the turning basin which used to be located at the plaza site.  The bridge stanchions reach toward the sky and provide a backdrop to the new plaza stage platform which will house the best space in the city to host both social and political events.  To comply with the city’s master plan for the plaza, the existing Kanawha water feature fountain will be restored but will be framed by vegetation so visitors can “discover” the fountain.

Design Issues:

There are a few key urban design issues that the Air Bridge scheme  attempts to solve.  Due to the condition of the existing fountain and lawns, the plaza is underutilized and is difficult to access by pedestrians.  The plaza visually disconnected from down town and is disconnected from the banks of the James River.   Because the plaza is isolated, is largely abandoned and can attract crime.

Design Approach:

The Kanawha Plaza Air Bridge and public platform will create excitement for the plaza and add interest to the Richmond downtown skyline.  With better access to the site, better planted areas, and a multi use cast in place concrete platform, the plaza will be used for lectures or speakingevents public rallies and protests music / fine arts performances, urban farming, food truck events and farmer’s markets.            The new pedestrian bridge will re-orient the plaza and allow large groups of people to access the site for public events.   The cable stay bridge supports will have wind powered lighting that will illuminate the site a night and allow for events to take place after dark.  Even though the bridge and stage platform have a big visual impact, they can be considered a “small scale intervention”.        The design only touches the site in four places.  (1) the Elevator/stair on Byrd Street, (2) the Main Stage,  (3) elevator / stair at the main bridge stanchion, and (4) the elevator / stair on Canal Street.

Conclusion: 

The Kanawha Plaza Air Bridge and public platform is the ideal solution to reconnect this urban park to downtown Richmond and the history of the James River as well as create opportunities for multiple public events