Buildings are snapshots of a moment in time and are certainly subject to aging. It is common to behold a building and think, wow, that’s an old or new building based on its appearance. However, buildings age functionally and in appearance. For example, an older home may lack wiring necessary to power modern appliances. Buildings require constant updating, so their function remains relevant. Such is the case of the Fitness Center at Fairchild Air Force Base. In relative terms the Fitness Center is not very old – construction completed in 2012 – and it serves its function well. Trouble is, Fairchild Air Force Base has been assigned additional personnel for its growing mission, and the Fitness Center is simply too small to adequately serve the current base population.
Enter WJA Design Collaborative: We conducted a programming charrette that included the community stakeholders to create a vision for what an addition to the Fitness Center would look like. After meeting with the user group and base representatives, we developed a formal project scope to meet the users’ needs. In-depth conversations with the customer gave WJA-dc insight into where the existing facility was lacking along with the knowledge of where the new addition needed to be.