The amount of usable space available in a campus recreation facility plays a critical role in creating the right atmosphere and environment for participants; every inch of space needs to be carefully planned out to meet the demands of students while also staying up to date with current fitness trends. This ensures users have the amenities they need while also potentially attracting more and more students as spaces are updated to fit current needs.
In a recent student satisfaction survey, the University of Kentucky (UK)’s Student Recreation Department realized that most students were centering their workouts around strength training and power rack stations. To meet the demand, the racquetball court area at the Johnson Center was repurposed and transformed into a dedicated workout space.
Racquetball has seen a dramatic decrease in popularity in recent years with interest shifting towards performance-based facilities. As a result, the racquetball court at UK was often sitting unused, which subsequently limited the facility’s potential.
With only 800 feet of space to work with, UK’s campus recreation team tasked PLAE with creating a custom setup that would be seen as a destination in the facility, one that left a strong impression on the user.
“From the start of this project, we knew we could not simply settle with just adding additional power racks,” says UK Fitness Director Casey Gilvin. “We wanted the area to serve as a one-stop-shop for users to train that was both aesthetically pleasing yet functional.”
Alongside the UK campus recreation team, we were able to develop a narrow rack concept that allowed for a defined pathway down the center of the room. This gave students sufficient space to navigate the room without interfering with other lifters.
The six PLAE ICONx rack stations were designed to stand out, utilizing UK’s iconic logos and color scheme. UK is the first campus recreation facility in the world to utilize these racks. The setup features barbells, bumper plates and adjustable benches, adjustable pulley systems, dumbbells, kettlebells, and other accessories necessary for an all-inclusive workout. Paired with our Achieve rubber flooring and inlaid Olympic lifting platforms, the room is completely functional and allows for a variety of programming all within the same space.
“We have seen an exponential increase in space utilization compared to its previous use as a racquetball court,” says Casey. “We have gone from a space used by five people each day to a thriving high-use space that meets the needs of our students. We have nearly doubled the numbers of rack/platform spaces in the Johnson Center and, in doing so, redirected traffic to a space that was underutilized in our facility.”
If you have an underutilized space in your campus recreation facility or an idea for how to revitalize your building, we have the knowledge and expertise to help you bring your vision to life! Please contact me for more information.
About PLAE
PLAE has been a NIRSA associate member and exhibitor for more than a decade. Sponsorship at the regional level grew to national-level involvement in 2015, and PLAE signed its first Diamond Partnership agreement at the end of 2018 and is currently a NIRSA Silver Partner. PLAE engineers high-end sports equipment and flooring, thriving on bringing premium fitness spaces to life through customization and elite execution. Specialties are weight rooms, indoor/outdoor turf, gymnasiums, track systems, and multi-purpose surfaces.
Brittany Barrett is currently the Director - Campus Recreation Business Development at PLAE.
