Upland High School Gymnasium

   Completed in May 2011, DCA designed the 20,000 square foot gymnasium and classroom building for Upland High School. Orco concrete block textures and finishes of split-face, center scored, burnished and precision blocks “layer and pattern” the building’s aesthetic. 

   The new 20,150 SF Multi-use Gymnasium at Upland High School developed out of a campus wide Master Plan. Due to the increased demand to the athletics program of basketball, volleyball, and the variety of dance and cheer programs, along with providing a large multi-use space for a variety of school and community events; the “gym” became a reality.

   The facility hosts an 11,700 SF Gymnasium, 3,600 SF of Dance and Aerobic Classrooms and 850 SF of Restrooms on the first floor with 4,050 SF of Multi-use classrooms on the second floor. The main gym has a rubberized synthetic sports floor with allows excellent performance for athletic and cheer events while maintaining a good floor for maintenance/acoustics for multi-use events such as assemblies, testing, and community events.

   Why CMU? After a careful analysis and comparison of structural systems for the new gymnasium which included steel brace frame, concrete tilt-up, wood, etc; Concrete Masonry Units (CMU) was selected as the prominent building material. This was due to concrete blocks characteristics such as permanence, efficient constructability, excellent structural properties, extreme durability and virtually no maintenance - perfect for a high school campus. CMU was ultimately the most cost effective to the projects modest budget of $4.8 million.

   The aesthetic design of the project to blend with the existing was very important. The adjacent classroom buildings design and construction are short concrete tilt-up panels with integral tan stones as the finish – “old school”. CMU was the perfect material to transition between the old and the new. 12” & 8” Split-face, Center-scored, Burnished and Precision blocks were utilized. A simple “layering & patterning” of these varied natural colored blocks broke down the large scale of the building giving it a more textural and articulated look. The CMU was also carried seamlessly into the site work for retaining walls, stairs, ramps, planters and seat walls.