We quickly realised we were dealing with a narrow and steep landscape. But when we were asked to design a new building that could house basketball courts, a rental meeting room, and a covered porch flexible enough for summer camps, we were excited (believe it or not). 

We were bursting with ideas about how to make it all work in such a compact footprint. Challenges like this spark our best designs. 

And just to keep things interesting, we were given the ultimate caveat – a tight budget. Faced with almost every challenge imaginable, we had to think outside the box. 

We needed to define distinct zones while keeping the entire design as compact and efficient as possible, all while working within the rigid constraint that the building could only be oriented one way due to the narrow, steep site.

Color.

Color became our most powerful tool. By breaking up the scale of the building with intentional hues,
each drawn from the signature YMCA palette, we added a sense of cohesion and created dimension.