Awards and History

The Student Recreation Center at California State University, Northridge, was honored with the LA Architectural Award for Education as selected by the Los Angeles Business Council and the Architects Awards Jury.

“It’s especially gratifying for the SRC to be recognized by architectural professionals of Los Angeles,” said Student Recreation Center Director, Jimmy Francis. “We are pleased to share this award with our general contractor C.W. Driver and the project architects at LPA, Inc. for their outstanding work.”

Presented by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Committee of Architecture for Education, this award honors the planning and design process that is educational, collaborative, and builds the capacity of the school and its community to support its students. 

“It’s amazing that the SRC won this national award,” said Jimmy Francis, director of the SRC. Architectural firm LPA Inc., the project team from California State University Northridge (CSUN) and the University Student Union did an exceptional job balancing function, form and sustainability in the design and construction of the facility.

This facility award recognizes excellence in newly constructed, renovated or expanded recreational facilities at NIRSA Membership Institutions. This award is given to facilities that demonstrate excellence in a number of critical areas, including architectural design, functionality, and how well the facility meets its intended purpose.

“The SRC is a more modern student rec center. It’s not only about the gym, but it’s a place to relax and hang out with friends,” said Glenn Carels, LPA, Inc. lead designer and architect for the SRC. “We call it ‘campus building,’ when the building you add doesn’t just serve its purpose, it makes the entire campus better, and more cohesive.”

To achieve gold status, the SRC ranked outstanding in five categories: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality. Many of the SRC’s features such as water-saving faucets, the usage of solatubes, and photovoltaic (solar) panels on the roof helped the SRC achieve LEED gold status.

“Seeking any way to reduce the negative environmental footprint of your facility is the responsible route to take in this new era of facility development,” said Jimmy Francis, director of the SRC. “This is especially true in an era where we are more conscious of sustainable building practices.”

The citation award recognizes distinctive aspects or elements of a design that demonstrate noteworthy architectural skill or vision.
“What impressed me most about the building was the level of detail and thought that went into it,” said Andrew Wickham, producer of a wickFILMS short film featuring the SRC. “It was obvious that every inch inside and out had been thought of— even the solar panels on the roof were tidily lined up. It seemed to me to be finished more to the level of a performance hall rather than a recreation center.”

Facilities are selected on the basis of plan efficiency, functional relationships and measures taken to maximize use of space, interior finishes, detailing and color schemes, exterior design, relationship of the building to the site, and cost of construction for the value received.

“Cloaked in a metal sunscreen veil, the facility transforms from opaque to illuminated at night,” said Jim Kalvelage, Athletic Business architectural showcase judge from Opsis Architecture. “This project presents a fresh and exciting contemporary model for today’s student recreation center.”

The citation award recognizes distinctive aspects or elements of a design that demonstrate noteworthy architectural skill or vision.
“I was thrilled to hear that the SRC won this outstanding award,” said Jimmy Francis, Director of the SRC. “Architectural design firm LPA Inc., the project team from California State University, Northridge and the University Student Union did an amazing job balancing function, form and sustainability in the design and construction of the facility.”

The COTE-SD Award recognizes the beauty of sustainable architecture that integrates buildings with the physical and cultural environment.

“I think it’s so great that the SRC won this award,” said Katelyn Sellers, SRC Member Services Assistant. “The SRC has made great efforts to be environmentally friendly.”

The Gold Nugget Award recognizes excellence and innovation in addressing complex design/build issues, specifically energy-conserving designs that avoid or reduce the use of mechanical equipment.

“The design team accepted the constraints of the site and punched back with a singular iconic stroke,” said the judges. “[We] appreciated the diagrams included to explain the passive sustainable design concepts incorporated into the building while still being arrested by its billboard audacity.”

The merit award recognized the integrated sustainable design executed by LPA, Inc., before the SRC was complete.

”The biggest difference between CSUN and other projects, was the level of coordination that was required,” said John Wilson, LPA Project Engineer. “All disciplines had to work closely at every step of the design process in order to achieve a system that worked within the complexity of the structural system.”

The citation award recognizes distinctive aspects or elements of a design that demonstrate noteworthy architectural skill or vision.
“The AIA award given to the Student Recreation Center at CSUN is the culmination of a successful working relationship between CSUN, the USU and LPA,” said Franco Brown, LPA Project Designer. “It validates many of the innovative concepts and architectural qualities that we conceived for this project, such as its iconic folding shape that ‘advertises’ the activities inside to the community at night, or the extensive use of glazing to collect natural light and open views to the surrounding valley hills.”