The $ 113 million complex includes not only swimming pools and a huge gym, but also a student dormitory for 225 people, six classrooms, a cafe and a cafeteria, as well as outdoor stands for the nearby football stadium.
The construction of the building is part of an ambitious plan to redevelop much of the University's campus previously occupied by parking. Landscape architect George Hargreaves proposed winding cobblestone paths along the hilly campus, as well as the so-called "Main Street", on the sides of which new buildings designed by famous architects should appear.
Along with Maine, this is Bernard Chumi with his almost completed track and field athletics arena, and the firms "Gwathmey Siegel architects" and "Moore Ruble Yudell" with buildings of university community centers.
The new master plan is not the university's first attempt to improve the appearance of its campus and attract the attention of potential students with the highest quality architecture: the ensemble of the campus includes buildings by Frank Gehry, Peter Eisenman and Michael Graves.
Located on the top of a small hill, the Student Leisure Center building designed by Maine consists of three connected volumes: a low glazed structure with ceilings resembling a traditional gable roof, a laconic rectangular volume clad with steel and aluminum, and a curved structure on the side.
In the first, smaller part, there are two swimming pools with an artificial river, a climbing wall and a gym with an area of 3350 sq. m, 20 m high, with a suspended treadmill. The roofs of the sports complex are supported by seven massive steel trusses ranging in length from 30 to 130 m, covered with aluminum. The structures open into the interiors of the large pool and hall, creating an impressive interior space.
The glass walls both allow a glimpse into the building from the outside and make the campus space part of the interior of the sports center.
Behind it is the curved volume of the educational building, topped with a sunscreen made of steel and perforated aluminum. It adjoins the most closed part of the leisure center - the hostel. Its walls are cut by irregular longitudinal "slits" - windows, reminiscent of Maine's previous building - the Caltrans 7 administrative complex in Los Angeles. As in the case, the architect managed to create an unusual and attractive public building in Cincinnati, which defined the urban space for hundreds of meters around.
