Oakland's Rainbow Recreation Center Wins Multiple Design Awards

News from: Oakland Public Works

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 22, 2019

Rainbow Recreation Center Wins Multiple Design Awards

Oakland, CA – Oakland Public Works announced today multiple honors awarded to the City’s latest parks and recreation facility, the Rainbow Recreation Center. Completed in March 2019, the recreation center has gained attention in local, national and international audiences.

“We are especially proud of Rainbow Recreation Center as the first new City facility delivered with funding from Measure KK,” OPW Director Jason Mitchell said. “This beautiful new facility would not have been possible without the partnership, leadership and support of our neighborhood community, our elected leaders, the generosity of the voters, and the diligent work of the project manager, Denise Louie.”

American Society of Civil Engineers, San Francisco Section: At its Annual Meeting & Awards Banquet on September 12, 2019, held at the historic San Francisco War Memorial Building Green Room, the American Society of Civil Engineers, San Francisco Section awarded the Rainbow Recreation Center project with two awards – The 2019 Parks & Recreation Project of the Year and the 2019 Community Improvement Project of the Year.

Architecture Masterprize: The Rainbow Recreation Center project received an Honorable Mention for the 2019 Architecture Masterprize awards. Winners gathered on October 14, 2019 at the Guggenheim Bilbao Museum, Spain, where over 150 architecture design companies from around the world celebrated creativity and innovation.

The Architecture Masterprize program is “about creating built forms, structures and spaces that can send our spirits soaring, reaffirm our humanity, and ultimately touch our very souls”.

“We are grateful to be a part of the community who executed the design and construction of the Rainbow Rec Center,” Dong Kim, Principal of the architecture firm Byrens Kim Design Works. “This is truly a design through collaboration!”

MUSE Design Awards: Out of 3,680 submissions from 60 countries, Rainbow has received a Silver Award in the Muse Design Award Program for the Architectural Design category. The MUSE Design Awards is an international competition for creative and design professionals, who help push the evolution of their industry in a positive direction. The MUSE Design Awards are administered and judged by International Awards Associates (IAA), and stellar panels of internationally-recognized professionals.

Photos by Dale Tan

Exterior Basketball Court project gains National attention! CBS This Morning covered the story of the Rainbow Recreation Center’s exterior basketball court renovation. Through a gift in place from the non-profit organization, ProjectBackboard.org and working with local Oakland artist Muzae Sesay, the exterior courts get a refreshed new look. During the summer 2018, teens got first hand experience working along with Mr. Sesay on the design process.

See the video segment:

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/project-remodels-basketball-courts-with-colorful-murals/

Visit Rainbow Recreation Center today at 5800 International Boulevard in the Seminary Neighborhood! Services information is available online at https://www.oaklandca.gov/topics/rainbow-recreation-center.

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