Mountain View Community Center (MVCC)serves all ages – from preschool children to senior citizens and includes a variety of indoor/outdoor recreational amenities. Situated within the lower east Rio Grande river valley of Bernalillo County and amongst a mixed use zone of manufacturing/industrial facilities, agricultural operations and a lower/middle income residential neighborhood, the Center has a visually distinct context. Large scale prefabricated metal building structures and industrial storage yards mingle with traditional single family dwellings and mobile homes.

RMKM designed this addition to the Mountain View Community Center to accommodate the expanding athletic and performing arts programs, including support functions. MVCC’s athletics program needed an indoor basketball court, while the performing arts program desired a stage and seating for both indoor and outdoor performances. Combining program requirements into a singe multi-purpose facility with an indoor/outdoor stage made for a budget-conscious solution to meeting MVCC’s needs.

The MVCC’s architecture expresses a clear distinction between old and new. The addition takes its cues from the surrounding industrial and residential architecture. Contrasting the existing facility’s earth-toned stucco finish, standing seam corrugated metal cladding wraps the over-scaled volume of the addition. Though largely opaque, the envelope admits daylighting through a transparent north facade whose geometric glazing acts as a halo of light in which the stage floats freely.