Title: Joyner Park Community Center
Location of Proejct: Wake Forest, NC
Project Completion Date: 2019
Firm Name: Clark Nexsen

Short Description: E. Carroll Joyner Park in the town of Wake Forest, NC is a pastoral landscape of forested hills and expansive rolling meadows. Once a working farm, the park maintains original agrarian structures dating back to late 1800’s. The new community center borrows from this practical and adaptable utilitarian tradition. A ubiquitous gabled-end building form addresses the site by extending its roof line to receive visitors and create a front porch. An interior wood-clad box contains programmatic spaces. Ample space is provided for community and wellness activities internally while views to the landscape are captured through strategically placed openings.

Architect's Statement: E. Carroll Joyner Park is a beloved community asset and popular location for recreation and events in Wake Forest, featuring walking trails, historic structures, and an outdoor amphitheater. Joyner Park Community Center supplements the park with its first indoor facility offering fitness and gathering spaces including a gymnasium, a walking track, a multipurpose room, a dance studio, and a teaching kitchen.

Joyner Park Community Center rests at the crest of a rolling hill between a mixed forest of hardwoods and pines and an open, expansive meadow. The community center’s formal expression is a recognition of both the historic agrarian structures and the pastoral natural setting of the farmland-turned-park. Similar in attitude to historic farm buildings in the region Joyner Park Community Center adapts a simple form to meet specific needs of the site and program.

The design team guided the selection of the site to limit site disturbance, allow for facility growth, and to celebrate the historic landscape. The surrounding meadow land and forest were considered sacred by both owner and design team. The building placement eliminated the need to remove old growth forest and allowed for balanced cut and fill and a short post-construction recovery time for adjacent ecosystems. Additionally, the site amenities are organized to anticipate expansion without excessive site impact as the local community continues to flourish.

The siting of the building afforded captivating, framed views of the landscape from a range of interior vantage points onto the surrounding forests, fields, and historic agrarian architecture. These openings, coupled with reflective floor surfaces, allow natural light to penetrate deeply, reducing the need for artificial light.

Using a simple palette of materials inspired by the park’s rural context, the building’s exterior employs cementitious siding, aluminum storefront, thin set stone veneer, and a standing seam metal roof. The “front porch” links the facility with the park’s greenway system and overlooks the meadow, further establishing connectivity with the outdoors. The porch roof in concert with vertical fins, provide shading on the east side for optimal energy efficiency. The straightforward architectural form economically accommodates the programmatic needs. Using a repetitive structural system and extruded building form sets the stage for future expansion of the facility.

Inside, an open lobby, exposed structure, and warm wood tones greet visitors. Circulation at the first floor and the track at the upper level, wrap a warm wooden box housing the major building components, such as teaching kitchen, multipurpose room, dance room, locker facilities, and the administrative home for the town’s Parks and Recreation department. The multipurpose room and teaching kitchen provide a new indoor reception space to support weddings and other planned events held on the park grounds.

Public plazas and a new, natural play area offer engaging outdoor space for both children and adults. Here, the community center harvests rainwater in a collection cistern to create a water feature that bolsters natural educational objectives established by the town and reduces the need to pipe runoff water to an existing pond.

From the onset, inclusivity and accessibility were guiding principles of the playground. The landscape is sculpted to weave a universally accessible path to each distinct play area. In turn, each play element was carefully selected and crafted to promote natural play for children of all ages and abilities, including special considerations for children with sensory needs.

The facility serves the greater Wake Forest area through its design as a recovery center. An essential component from the beginning, the community can access shared amenities such as laundry, lodging and bathing, in the event of a natural disaster.

Joyner Park Community Center expands the resources and community assets for Wake Forest, promoting an active healthy lifestyle for all ages. The rural-inspired design compliments the natural landscape and protects the beloved features of the park.