“Rush Dixon Architects listened to our goals for the building - function, aesthetics, maintenance, budget - and produced a design that captured those goals and emphasized the surrounding community.”
Edmund Most, Deputy Director of Capital Projects - City of Charleston

One of the true highlights of our career began back in the summer of 2017 when we submitted our qualifications and interviewed for the competitive architectural selection to design a new recreation center for the City of Charleston. Our firm was ultimately selected by the committee to design the 20,000sf Daniel Island Recreation Center which would serve as both a recreation center and community gathering space. The design process kicked off with numerous department meetings and facility tours to better understand the City’s functional needs, programmatic goals, maintenance resources, lessons learned etc. The resulting design includes two main spaces - a basketball court and a multi-purpose meeting room - which are evident in the building’s massing. Rounding out the program are small conference rooms, yoga space, cardio center, concession kitchen and supporting offices.

The gymnasium is sized and striped for basketball, volleyball and pickleball with the option to have half courts and spectators.

The Multi-Purpose Room captures views of nearby Governor’s Park and offers the City a place for meetings and light recreation. The room can be divided into two smaller areas for flexibility and uses the Armstrong Woodworks ceiling system for both acoustics and aesthetics.

The design is inspired by the agricultural history of the site in broad strokes through architectural massing and materials, and specifically, through the storytelling of the local indigo industry on the interiors. The use of Trespa Phenolic Wall Panels, both in white and grey, provide a textured wall harkening to the wood planks historically used for barns, with the benefit of durability and low maintenance for this civic use. The project gained approval from the City of Charleston’s Design Review Board, Daniel Island Architectural Review Board, Mayor’s Design Review, Technical Review Committee along with the required site approval entities for new development. The construction spanned from 2019 to 2021, was ushered successfully through hurricanes and the pandemic by our friends at Hill Construction and ultimately opened to the public in August 2021.