Diablo View Middle School

Mt. Diablo Unified School District
Clayton, California

New Joint-Use Gym

Diablo View Middle School is a small campus located in a rural setting at the foot of Mt. Diablo. As a small middle school campus, it was originally designed with a multi-purpose building as the main, interior physical education facility. The District and the City partnered to maximize the resources that they each had to offer. Since they shared the grass playfields that were
owned and maintained by the City, they decided that a joint-use gymnasium would be the next logical step in their relationship. The school needed a home for their sport teams and school activities and the City needed a facility for their community leagues and recreation activities.
A committee was established comprising of members representing both the school district and the community to determine the program elements. The joint-use facility includes the shared gymnasium space, restrooms, lobby and a community room. The school has a boys’ and girls’ locker room and weight room, and the City has recreation offices and storage rooms.
The design follows the cues established by the existing middle school campus. Masonry and metal roofs, along with the white trim, are the main elements establishing the rural feel. The gymnasium is a simple hip structure forming the main mass with smaller elements along the edges to accommodate the other program elements. The hip structure consists of four towers at the corners connected by a single large truss at each side.
A continuous band of translucent panels follows the trusses flooding the gymnasium with natural light.
For most of the day, the lights can remain off due to the abundance of diffused natural light.
The main entry, signified by an open-air pavilion, is oriented towards the quadrangle of the existing campus. The gymnasium facility is separated from the school by a system of discretely placed fences and gates. During school hours, the gates are open and the campus is connected to the gymnasium facility without evidence of separation. An additional parking area with separate entry was provided in order to place parking closer to the gymnasium facility and to create an identifiable entry when the school is closed.
The success of the project belongs to the vision between the District and the City and their common goal to provide the best facility possible
to the community that it serves.