Eastway Regional Recreation Center, located just outside of Charlotte, North Carolina opened in the fall of 2020. The design team worked closely with Mecklenburg County to engage the surrounding communities in its vision to provide and connect the region to a variety of health, wellness and educational opportunities. The facility aspires to bring everyone together, attracting a group diverse in age, ethnicity and cultural background.

This two-story, 95,000 sq. ft. building is set at the end of a gracious drive in the wetlands of Eastway Park, a ninety-acre urban park primarily surrounded by industrial development and suburban housing neighborhoods. A strong connection to the site was imperative in the design of this community center; outdoor amenities such as a wetland overlook, synthetic turf fields, a community event lawn, and a nature trail were all developed in the programming of the new facility. Compositionally, the buildings’ massing is dynamic in form; folding roofs create strong angles representative of the highly kinetic activity and energy within the building’s walls.

Photos courtesy of Peter Brentlinger