The Paulson Center site at 181 Mercer Street was previously occupied by a single-use athletic and recreation facility. Now, although athletics was one of many building elements, it remained perhaps the most public-facing, accessible uses. Along with athletics leadership and an architectural team, Ummo contemplated ways to highlight NYU athletics within a complex context. 

Our intention was to reinterpret the familiar, historical identity of the NYU Athletics program, turning it up to the scale of the new facility. At the Paulson Center, students, faculty, athletes, and community share the athletic complex, which spreads across three levels: the ground floor and two below-ground stories. Inside are a six-lane swimming pool, jogging track, squash courts, a fitness room, and more. It is a quintessentially New York vibe—diverse, cool, no-nonsense, a little subterranean.

Across a complex footprint, we identified opportunities for the brand and the architecture to intersect. Our design stitches together uses, volumes, and moods. In the reception area, lights and dimensional surfaces subtly reference the NYU Athletics brand. Throughout the building’s circulation, large-scale displays reveal glimpses of the university’s history. And in high-intensity areas—like weight rooms and tracks—bright, abstracted graphics pulse with energy.

Our design process began with the most fundamental element of the NYU Athletics identity—its vintage monogram. By abstracting the letterforms of N, Y, and U, we created a set of angular containers. Sometimes, these containers remained monochrome, lending to the Paulson Center texture. Other times, the containers emphasized linework, defining architectural volumes with striking geometric patterns. And throughout, these containers featured larger-than-life monochromatic images, reminiscent of New York City’s ubiquitous wheat-paste posters.

The adaptability of this geometrical, modular approach had a purpose: to define distinct areas of the athletic facility, helping users instinctually navigate across three levels.

On the ground floor, as visitors enter, they are greeted by a community-oriented cardio studio, lounge areas, and reception. Here, the graphic strategy is at its most direct—the brand appears consistently and grainy floor-to-ceiling graphics depict urban scenes around campus.

Down a flight of stairs, graphics grow more layered, buzzy, and dynamic. Powerful, journalistic sports photography is juxtaposed with dimensional lettering and abstracted elements of the identity. Here, large-scale digital screens heighten the hype, giving the space the feeling of a destination gym.

On the lowest floor, where corridors lead to lap pool and courts, the identity switches to underground chic. Along the NYU Athletics Hall of Fame, elegant monographs cover the walls, foregrounding trophy cases and historic images. On this floor, frequented by alumni and donors, NYU Athletics legacy is around every corner.