Project overview: The first LEED Platinum ice arena in the US, the building was conceived to bolster Bentley University’s Division I hockey team and enrich campus life with a dynamic, event space for the entire campus community. Modulated, pre-cast concrete panels create a kinetic play of light and shadow on the facade.
Project location: Waltham, Massachusetts
Firm name: ARC/ Architectural Resources Cambridge
Project type: Multipurpose arena
Project information: New construction
Jury comments: This project impressed the jury as an example of a well-composed edifice that leverages a primary need to create an environmentally friendly multiuse space. The jury appreciated the efforts to find economy, inclusivity, environmental innovation, and aesthetics into a single structure. Built for the need to host Division 1 athletics, the project can also boast a teaching lab for communications students, a pre-engineered structural system, LEED Platinum status, and a highly collaborative process that reduced construction duration as well as costs. This highly aesthetically pleasing building admirably embodies most of the criteria set forth in the AIA design-excellence rubric.
