On October 18, the Middle Branch Fitness & Wellness Center received the Social Equity Award during the annual AIA Baltimore Excellence in Design Awards.
Established jointly by the chapter and the Neighborhood Design Center in 2018, the award recognizes community-driven projects that advance the health, social justice, environmental sustainability, and the true character of a place by creating design that honors the people who live, work, worship, and do business there.


Above all other submissions, the jury felt that the Middle Branch Fitness & Wellness Center is the physical manifestation of a client and design team working alongside the community to create a project that is impactful for the immediate and surrounding neighborhoods. The jury summarized: "Thoughtfully situated and illuminated, the Middle Branch Fitness & Wellness Center is a welcoming and safe space and serves as a beacon for its community in South Baltimore. Through a stakeholder engagement process, the desire for a year-round safe space to walk was identified and the resulting indoor track became integral to the center’s inclusive design. This resulting elevated red track became the connecting piece between the three distinct volumes while activating the entire building and providing users a dynamic view of the neighborhood and waterfront beyond. Though challenging from both a design and financing perspective, the project provides the prime example of how to successfully develop a project with community input."



The award recognizes the project team’s commitment to achieving the central project goal—to change a disconnected and underutilized park, which was formerly home to a landfill and incinerator, into a state-of-the art recreation and community center—through a highly collaborative process that brought together community members and organizations like Baltimore City Recreation and Parks, the South Baltimore Gateway Partnership, and the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation. Because of the deep involvement and input of a multitude of stakeholders, the center—the largest public recreation center in the city—has become a thriving neighborhood third space, designed to directly fulfill the expressed needs of the community.