It’s not uncommon for design professionals to specialize in a particular niche, or even to choose one building type as their favorite. But Dave Hammel of Denver’s Barker Rinker Seacat Architecture (BRS) has done more than find a niche and excel at it; he has helped more than 250 communities plan and design their recreation centers while identifying cutting-edge innovations that have shaped this particular specialty along the way.

“Dave found the community center building type to be very satisfying,” says BRS principal Craig Bouck. “It’s the only building the whole community can find value in for their entire lives. No matter your age, you can go there every day and find a connection—whether for health, education or socialization.”

哈梅尔的设计生涯开始与br作为实习生while he was in graduate school at the University of Colorado. He became a principal with the firm in 1988, and ultimately spent his entire 43-year career there. Hammel retired from BRS earlier this year with the distinction of being a nationally recognized specialist in the design and planning of community recreation centers.

Iconic Firsts

位于科罗拉多州威斯敏斯特的威斯敏斯特娱乐中心是第一个设计的Rec Center Hammel，也是第一个用于BRS。哈默尔说：“没有人试图将水上乐园设施放在室内。”“我们参观了欧洲的设施，看看发生了什么，最终创建了美国第一个'超级中心'”

Westminster was also the first indoor leisure center and featured the first indoor climbing wall in the country. “We weren’t sure exactly how to do it,” he says, referring to the climbing wall.

他雇用了一名从博尔德（Boulder）的攀岩者，与砖石承包商一起设计，设计了一个岩石墙，该岩石墙具有可以帮助教授攀岩基础知识的岩石墙。他们在整个冬季都在带有加热器的帐篷下工作，以确定如何放置裂缝，悬垂，手持式和不同难度的攀爬路线。该项目为BRS提供了全国性的曝光，并帮助建立了许多REC中心的攀岩墙作为关键组成部分；今天，它们和室内池一样普遍。

一个左右的中心之后，Hammel启发了科罗拉多州阿尔瓦达市160,000平方英尺的顶点中心的设计。它打算成为全天的家庭中心，它是第二大公共休闲中心西部的第二大公共休闲中心密西西比河。Rec SuperCenter于2000年完成，拥有两个NHL大小的室内冰竞技场。一个主题水上中心，有两个幻灯片，一个游泳池和幼儿游戏结构；一个青少年游泳池供水篮球；游泳圈的车道；三个体育馆；和两个水疗中心 - 一个适合成年人，一个是家庭。

Problem Solver

One of the biggest challenges with aquatic facilities is design of the building envelope, which requires keeping cold and moisture out and preventing damage from snow or rain to the internal walls.

“There are many penetrations where that could break down, and Dave used his expertise and graphic ability to figure out and solve those problems,” says pool consultant Doug Whiteaker, president of Water Technology Inc. He has worked with Hammel on more than 100 projects over the last 20 years and credits him for his unique blend of architecture, engineering insight and artistry.

“His greatest talent is to be able to graphically create the details to illustrate technical information, so that even those who don’t understand the problem can understand the solution. He’s good at taking complex challenges and breaking them down into doable solutions,” Whiteaker says.

Those challenges can take several forms. Rec centers with pools use more energy than any other public building because many are open from 5:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. for the public and then open all night for cleaning. Also, the vastly different activity zones require extensive design expertise, and there’s the challenge of creating a building for users with a variety of ages and needs that might not normally coincide. For example, the pool area must be kept warm and humid, the fitness center air conditioned and the meeting rooms quiet.

“There are always challenges, but Dave’s nature never got emotional or reactive,” adds Whiteaker. “He’s very analytical and asks: ‘What’s the source? The solution?’ He would calm the clients down and get them a reasonable response, so everyone trusted him.”

With Hammel’s guidance, BRS created many innovations for how rec centers function, including designing the first-ever LEED certified rec center in the country, the North Boulder Recreation Center, which also was the first LEED Silver project in Colorado.

BRS also introduced the idea of using secondary water treatment for swimming pools. Up until 1985, all pools were treated only with chlorine. After the Westminster Rec Center, Hammel advised clients he would not design another pool without a secondary treatment option.

“We started with an ozone system, injecting ozone into the water, in addition to chlorine. Then we moved to an industrial-grade ultraviolet light, which circulates all of the water that goes through the filters to kill the bacteria. This has made all the difference in eliminating that chlorine smell completely, and it’s the system we’re still using today,” Hammel says.

活跃的成年人

The Fort Collins Senior Center in Fort Collins, Colo., was BRS’s first senior center, and is one of the first active adult centers built in the U.S. It’s a market segment BRS still pursues. One of the last designs of Hammel’s career, the Thornton Active Adult Center, was completed in July 2020, just as he was retiring.

该中心计划经理Lisa Ranalli说：“与Dave合作的最佳选择是他致力于与社区交往。”拉纳利（Ranalli）还与哈默尔（Hammel）合作，在科罗拉多州桑顿（Thornton）的新Trailwinds Rec Center的规划和设计工作，该中心于2019年春季开业。

“He’s a great listener and he has a lot of passion for creating these wonderful community spaces. Each place BRS designs is unique to its community, and you can only accomplish that by listening to the people who work there and those who will use the facility,” she says.

Bouck adds: “Not only did [the Thornton Active Adult Center] have to look good, but it also had to function well, and this speaks to his approach to a project—not just getting it built but also staying connected during the life of the project so that it can evolve and change and be relevant to the community it lives in.”

Renaissance Architect

“In this business, the push is for specialization—to differentiate yourself from your competition and everyone else. The narrower you become, the better,” Bouck says. “Even though community recreation was his focus, Dave kept a balance of keeping his fingers in design, paying attention to client management, mentoring BRS staff and enjoying the process of running a business too. It’s a difficult balance to maintain. In this world of specialization, he’s found a way to remain a Renaissance architect.”

哈默尔说：“我一直感觉到，如果您做得很好，并加倍努力，它将最终带来收益。”“最终，[该项目]是关于建筑物的，但这也与您一起工作的所有人。您将完成整个设计，规划，施工文件，采摘地毯，地板和木材的整个过程。然后，一旦他们将其运行后，我就从他们那里听到的第一件事是：“我想再做一次！’”他说。“这些人中有许多人开始寻找一份可以做到这一点的新工作。欢乐的一部分是过程，我想认为我们与它有关。”

“Dave is the guy you go to if you have a tough problem, or even if you just need to talk,” adds Keith Hayes, a BRS partner. He says he was “just a wee architect” when Hammel hired him in the 1990s and took him under his wing for the Apex project, kicking off a long mentor-mentee relationship. “Anytime you sat down with him, he would stop what he was doing, look you straight in the eye and talk to you,” Hayes says.

Hammel also is known for his tendency to dig into a problem and not let go. His final project, the $54-million Northglenn Recreation Center, Senior Center and Theatre in Northglenn, Colo., is currently under construction. He started the conceptual design process for the building nearly 18 years ago, but the project couldn’t find enough funding and was put on hold. Hammel didn’t give up, and now the 87,000-sq-ft building will be twice the size of the current facility and includes a 300-seat performing arts center, a unique concept for this type of venue.

“戴夫（Dave）以身作则，首先优先考虑人们，”布克说。“即使时代很艰难，平静的平静和尊重，公平和善良的观点，他也不明智，也做出了决定。从这里开始，作为企业领导者，我们将始终在思考：“戴夫会做什么？”