Built To Last

Built To Last

The Michelle and Barack Obama Sports Complex (also known as the Obama Sports Complex) at Rancho Cienega Park is owned by the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks.

6 min read

Defining and designing resilient recreation structures

By Tony Bouquot

The Michelle and Barack Obama Sports Complex (also known as the Obama Sports Complex) at Rancho Cienega Park is owned by the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks. It fills an important need in South Los Angeles by providing quality public recreation and fitness amenities for a population of approximately 100,000 people. The complex, completed in 2022, consists of two buildings––a 20,225-square-foot structure that houses an Olympic-size indoor pool and bathhouse, and a 16,232-square-foot gymnasium that accommodates two high school regulation basketball courts, a mezzanine walking track, a fitness annex, a multiuse community room, and staff offices.

The complex is representative of a growing interest in using metal building systems to meet a variety of financial and functional needs in parks across the nation. Metal buildings are actually one of the most popular forms of construction in the one- and two-story commercial market, and continue to take centerstage for many types of recreation facilities. But, for this particular complex, resiliency and concern for the environment were priorities that made metal buildings the ultimate choice.

The project’s basketball wing is one of the first Net Zero Energy (NZE) buildings built by the City of Los Angeles. With non-NZE buildings, an audit of performance data certifies that a building harnesses energy from the sun, wind, or earth. For an NZE building, 100 percent of the facility’s annual net-energy needs must be supplied by on-site renewable energy––and no combustion is allowed.

The Obama Sports Complex incorporates passive-energy features, including extensive daylighting through solar tubes, natural ventilation, and geothermal heating. A rooftop photovoltaic solar array is capable of generating more than 13% of the building’s energy requirements. And north and south operable walls open to provide natural ventilation and increase the area inside the gym building. Not only does the facility satisfy NZE requirements but it does so in cutting-edge ways.



Weathering The Storm

For every park and recreation building throughout this nation, coupling energy efficiency with built-in resiliency can provide long-term value and an endurance that stands the test of time. As hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, heatwaves, and wildfires continue to bombard the country, resilient buildings are more important than ever.

“In the aftermath of a disaster, a building’s resilience can be understood, not just from its ability to endure a disaster with minimal structural damage, but truly be quickly repaired as needed, and put back into service,” explains Eric F. Pros, AIA, MBA, CPD, Director of Design at Cleveland, Ohio-based DS Architecture.

Studies conducted by the Metal Building Manufacturers Association, in coordination with researchers and universities, confirm that metal roofing can withstand winds of 140 mph. In addition, a metal building structure has been shown to withstand a maximum earthquake event, based on shake-table testing performed by researchers at the University of California, San Diego.

Planning For Resiliency In Park And Recreation Facilities

Resilient metal buildings not only save money and energy, but also provide opportunities for innovation. Zoltan Pali, FAIA is co-founder of SPF:architects (SPF:a), the architecture firm that designed the Obama Sports Complex. In describing metal-system facilities, he says, “When working with the [metal building] system, try to take and use it and put it together in a new way. Look at it as building blocks with infinite options. Create a composition unique to your project—unique to what you want to express. Once you’ve done that, work to achieve simplicity and elegance in the detailing—how are doors inserted, how do windows interact? Bring the best out of the system visually and from a performance perspective as well.” 

Mel Willis

In addition, park-facilities project teams can benefit from a system developed by the American Institute of Architects, which is titled The Fundamentals of Resilient & Climate Adaptive Design. This document outlines eight design principles meant to reduce property harm and damage, allow adaptations to respond to evolving climate conditions, and help owners and their facilities teams recover from impactful weather events more effectively and efficiently.

In applying these eight principles to metal buildings, highlights are as follows:

  1. Place-Based – Metal buildings can be easily and cost-effectively erected, and strategically placed in key locations on a property and within a community.
  2. Risk-Prepared – Backed by research, full-scale tests, and building codes compliance, buildings can be designed to weather earthquake, hurricane, and tornado loads.
  3. Precautionary – Resisting mold growth, rust, and decay, metal buildings maintain their integrity under normal temperature fluctuations.
  4. Equitable – Large, clear-span expanses allow for easily adaptable floor space and room configurations, and low-rise design enhances accessibility, accommodating people with varying needs and abilities.
  5. System-Centric – Through the selection of colors, textures, building scale, and size, buildings can easily be designed to blend in with existing structures and the surrounding landscape.
  6. Service Life FocusedMetal roofs, typically used on metal buildings, have been proven to last more than 60 years under all types of weather and climate conditions.
  7. Ready – A popular choice for recreation and government facilities, metal buildings can be designed to support the operation of a building after an emergency or disruption.
  8. Adaptive – The steel spans of a metal-building system are designed to allow for the reconfiguration of building areas, allowing quick accommodation for changes in function, ownership, equipment, and regulations.


Why Metal Matters

Metal buildings can be found in parks and recreation environments nationwide. One with features similar to the Obama Sports Complex is the Bentonville Community Center in Bentonville, Ark. This spacious metal-building system has a standing seam metal roof, and the building is clad in brick, stone, and architectural-textured metal panels. The center is an 80,000-square-foot facility that serves residents of all ages. Amenities include an aquatic center with a zero-depth entry, a family leisure pool, and a 25-yard competitive pool. The two physical structures are joined by one large wall. The aquatic portion accommodates the high levels of humidity and chlorinated water required for both pool environments. In addition, the center offers a full fitness and exercise facility, a dance/aerobics studio, a gymnasium, an indoor running track, community rooms, an arts and crafts center, secure childcare, a senior activity lounge, and a mini-branch library.



Another example is Camp Trivera, the Girl Scouts of Western Oklahoma STEM camp in Oklahoma City, Okla. While the facilities are owned by Girl Scouts of Western Oklahoma, they also serve the local community through the camp’s parklike setting, trails, and facility amenities. Resiliency is built into the design—as well as the STEM student experience. For example, according to Rees Associates, the facility architect, the exterior lighting is Dark Sky-rated to minimize light pollution while increasing the ability to stargaze. Also, conservation through plumbing decisions helps reduce water use by approximately 30%. A rainwater-harvesting system, incorporating the buildings’ steel beams, collects water from the rooftops, which is then used for watering and irrigation.

All in all, building resiliency is quickly becoming a primary consideration for park and recreation management teams—as well as their architecture and engineering consultants. Resilient design is the future of building solutions. It helps to ensure energy efficiency and social responsibility, while offering buildings that are increasingly able to withstand the onslaught of climate change and the dramatic winds, storms, and natural events that impact every aspect of the built environment.

Tony Bouquot is the general manager of the Metal Building Manufacturers Association. He also narrates a YouTube series, Travels with Tony, that introduces audiences to innovative metal buildings found across America. He can be reached at mbma@mbma.com.