













Jicarilla Apache Community Wellness Center
The Jicarilla Community Wellness Center project is a new 100,000 sf replacement facility for the Jicarilla Apache Nation with a focus on creating healthy spaces—inside and out—and a civic center for the community.
With the client directive to create large beautiful spaces for the community to gather, the design team carefully chose materials and forms to create the house where the Jicarilla Apache community could come together to express their culture. The design of the facility is organized along a central circulation concourse that functionally connects all major facility spaces and creates a multi-use exhibition and gathering space for the community. The new center responds to the cultural context of the Jicarilla Apache Nation by promoting a circular entry element with an east-facing entrance. The scale, forms and design expressions are responsive to the local and cultural vernacular with the use of stone veneer for durability and metal roofs for the high-altitude location. A high solar value glazing system provides abundant daylighting while controlling glare and providing energy efficiency.
The project incorporates four major community functions – a fully-equipped natatorium with a competition pool, a leisure and therapy pool; multi-use gymnasium with full-size basketball courts and two full-sized side courts, volleyball courts, upper level running track; eight-lane bowling alley with a youth center and a multipurpose event center for community functions, conferences, performing arts, conventions and more.
Tree-lined trails with rest areas and prescriptive plantings surround the grounds, along with fitness stations to encourage outdoor activity in addition to the wellness services inside the building. A park with a stage and amphitheater in the southeast corner of the site provides a venue for community gatherings, powwows and other large events.
Design Vision
The initial studies for the Jicarilla Apache Nation’s new community and wellness center – The Sun, The Mountain and The River.
Through a series of design workshops, the River concept was chosen to develop the final design.
Leon Reval, Former Council Member,Jicarilla Apache Nation
- 100,000 sf
- Architecture
- Interiors
- Landscape Architecture
- Sustainable Design
- Natatorium with competition and recreation pools
- Four full-size courts
- Indoor running track
- Bowling alley
- Climbing wall
- Youth center
- Community event center
- Outdoor amphitheater
- Prescription trail
- Eagle Award, Community | Civic | Public – Large – NAIOP Awards of Excellence, 2021
News
ABF’s 40 Under 40: Renn Halstead hopes to design the next big goal of his career as an architect
Renn Halstead said a lot of blood, sweat and tears went into getting him to where he is today. Halstead made it through graduate school at the University of New Mexico as a single father. With that, he considers becoming a licensed architect his greatest professional achievement. Now an associate architect with FBT Architects — the youngest […]
International District Urban Agriculture Plan Selected Design for the Common Good Exhibition
Groundwork Studio and Bernalillo County are excited to announce the International District Urban Agriculture Plan project was selected to be a part of the Design for the Common Good International Exhibition. The exhibit is currently running at the Metropolitan State University of Denver’s Center for Visual Art through March 19, 2022. Project submissions from the Rocky Mountain West and […]
2021 NAIOP Awards
We’re proud to have three projects honored at the 2021 NAIOP Awards! Thank you to all the teams whose hard work made these projects successful. Eagle Award for Excellence The Jicarilla-Apache Wellness Center UNM Johnson Center Renovation and Expansion Award of Merit CNM Marketplace Jicarilla-Apache Wellness Center – Eagle Award of Excellence The Jicarilla-Apache […]
Welcome, Henry Reitwiesner!
FBT Architects is excited to announce that Henry Reitwiesner has joined their Colorado Springs team as a Project Executive after retiring from Academy District 20. Henry has been invested in educational architecture for over 25 years, with a depth of experience in facilities’ management, construction supervision and contract administration. After more than two decades employed […]
SNL Building 706 Agile Wins ABC NM Eagle Award
Sandia National Laboratories’ 706 Agile Lab project was awarded the Eagle Award (top award in its category) at the 2021 Associated Builders and Contractors Excellence in Construction Awards. FBT is proud to be a part of this team with Noresco, Smith Engineering, Jensen Hughes, EEA Consulting Engineers and Thompson Construction Inc. Designed for LEED Gold, […]
Groundwork Studio Hires Toby Levin
Toby Levin joins Groundwork Studio and FBT Architects as a Landscape Designer. He brings a diverse history, having worked as an actor and in philanthropic administration before turning to landscape architecture. Toby is drawn to urban spaces that connect people with natural processes and works to balance the needs of these sometimes-competing interests. He enjoys […]
Groundwork Studio Hires Erika Robers
Erika Robers joins Groundwork Studio and FBT Architects with a background in education, community-based research and program development. Her love for the outdoors, plants and nature-based education led her to pursue a degree in community, environmental and natural resource planning. Planning outdoor student learning events and her time organizing and teaching recent immigrants informs Erika’s […]
FBT Hires Cheyenne Gurule
FBT welcomes Cheyenne Gurule to our team as an Intern Architect. Cheyenne applies her detail-oriented approach to FBT’s projects, working at the production level to turn big picture ideas into a built reality. She is most inspired when culture, community and innovation converge to form beautiful architecture. Her interests include the many facets of sustainability […]
FBT Hires Nicholas Morse
FBT welcomes Nicholas Morse to our team as an Intern Architect. Nicholas is driven by a desire to improve individual and societal wellbeing through conscientious dialog between the built environment and the natural world. He is intrigued by passive natural systems that reduce our carbon footprint and blur the line between architecture and the landscape–such […]
FBT Named Top Workplace for the 6th Year!
There’s no ‘I’ in WOW! The Albuquerque Journal’s annual Top Workplaces awards compile employee survey feedback and recognize businesses with high employee satisfaction. The survey addresses key issues including company values and culture, professional development opportunities, meaningful work and innovation. Our practice is built on a culture that commits to our mission that pushes each […]