a seating area with yellow furnishings in The Graham Athletics & Wellness Center — Penn Charter

February 8, 2024

This Athletic Center is a Win for the Environment

2023 Best of Year Winner for Early Education

The country’s oldest Quaker school boasts a brand-new building to house its robust K-12 athletic program—one that also switch-hits as the heart of its academic campus in Philadelphia via a vibrant lobby/common space complete with a nutrition bar, store, student lounge, and study areas. Designed by EwingCole, a second-floor classroom with glass wall permitting views of the buzzy space below, plus a soaring geometric feature wall pairing oak veneer and acoustic panels combine to make the most of the airy double-height volume. Nestling half of the Graham Athletics & Wellness Center’s 87,000 square feet below-grade, meanwhile, minimized its impact on the landscape and the environment, reducing energy use and solar heat gain to boot.

See Interior Design’s Best of Year Winners and Honorees

Explore must-see projects and innovative products that took home high honors.

2024 WINNERS

a rock climbing wall in The Graham Athletics & Wellness Center

a striped wall with a white staircase overlooks floors in The Graham Athletics & Wellness Center

Projects
How an Award-Winning Museum Lets the Light In
Take a closer look at the 2023 Interior Design Best of Year Awards winner for International Museum by Neri&Hu Design and Research Office. Learn more.
Projects
Hiba Restaurant in Tel Aviv Serves Up Elevated Design
Dine inside Hiba Restaurant, a 2,700-square-foot Mediterranean-fusion restaurant in Tel Aviv, Israel, designed by Pitsou Kedem Architects.
Projects
This Interstellar Cafe is Designed for Gen Zers
Take a closer look at the 2023 Interior Design Best of Year Awards winner for Coffee/Tea, Art Toy Café in Cangzhou, China by Kris Lin International Design.