Following the addition of a new Health & Human Performance major — Exercise Science — Wartburg College required more space to support the program. The existing wellness center athlete weight room was bursting at its seams with outdated equipment and the floor structure was not suitable for collegiate athletes dropping weights. Expanding the weight room and carving out new space for the Exercise Science major was the approach.
The new Strength & Conditioning Annex was added to the south side of the wellness center, just steps away from the exercise science labs. The two-story addition allows for multiple athletic teams to use the equipment at the same time. A connecting stair is screened with a 24’ tall perforated, metal mural adorned with a Wartburg Knights logo, highlighted by a Wartburg orange backdrop. Seventeen lift platforms fill the space with branded crash zones integrated into the athletic tile flooring. Each platform is equipped with Eliteform technology, a motion capture system designed to enhance training and performance. Wartburg is the first Division III program to use this technology throughout its entire weight room, further working to bridge the gap between athletics and academics.
The renovation now boasts a Human Performance Lab with a markerboard projection wall for stop motion instruction, and an Anatomy Lab stocked with internally lit cabinets to showcase metabolic models. In its first year, the college totaled 70 new Exercise Science majors.
