Occupying a prominent location on the southwest corner of the campus, the new fitness center provides recreational and individual fitness-oriented activities for the 3,000 member Harvard Business School community. The 112,000 gsf building incorporates a 20,000 sf gymnasium; a banked jogging track(10 laps to the mile); 5 squash and 4 racquetball courts; 2 aerobics classrooms (1,700 sf each); a 3,600 sf fitness conditioning room; men's and women's locker rooms at 4,000 sf each, including individual shower stalls, whirlpool, steam and sauna rooms; a suite of 4 administrative offices; and a café seating 125 people.

The 1,000 sf atrium is the social and programmatic center of the building, linking the smaller scale rooms in the north volume of the Athletic/Fitness Center with the gymnasium and courts area to the south. In addition to orienting the user to all parts of this facility, the atrium brings natural light to all three levels of the building. Locker rooms are located on ground level just beyond the entrance lobby. Circulation from these locker rooms to all activity areas is simple and direct: exercise rooms and gymnasium one level up, squash and racquetball courts one level down, and the adjacent outdoor athletic fields and Blodgett Pool directly on grade. The second floor pub/galley is centrally located, above the entry and overlooking the atrium, with direct views of the Cotting courtyard to the north. A passenger elevator makes the building fully accessible to all , including those who use the pedestrian tunnel connection.

The building employs an assemblage of differently scaled elements in order to relate to the various scales of its surroundings. The larger, south volume of the gymnasium addresses the street scale of Gordon Road and North Harvard Street, and the strong presence of Harvard Stadium. The north volume, by contrast, responds to the residential scale of the Business School dormitories and the offices to the north. The contours of the plan are defined by the radial geometries of the campus.

The design of the building, which is clearly contemporary, relates to the traditional architecture of the campus, the typology of its building forms, roof shapes, and window proportions. The palette of colors and textures, specifically the green wood exterior doors, white mullioned windows, blue-black slate pitched roofs, light grey stucco and ivy covered brick is that of Harvard buildings. Interior materials range from exposed steel and concrete block in the gymnasium to black stained red oak in the café, textured plaster in the atrium, and gypsum wall board for the remaining spaces. Public circulation spaces have scored concrete floors. The majority of rooms feature a black floor surround which both sets off the field of special flooring required for the different activities and unifies the variety of floor surfaces.

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