The Koret Plaza at the Arrillaga
Center for Sports & Recreation

While the term “sports center” might bring to mind sweaty subterranean weight rooms, Stanford’s Arrillaga Center for Sports & Recreation, and the surrounding Koret Plaza, break free from this stereotype.

As befits a world-class university, Stanford’s Arrillaga Center boasts not only a weight room but also a 3,600- square-foot studio used for yoga, tae kwon do, wrestling, and other activities; a sports medicine and human performance center; an academic resource center; a fencing facility; three basketball courts; squash courts; and a rock-climbing room. The 1.75-acre Koret Plaza shades the center with oak trees and offers enthusiastic gym goers — and more subdued wanderers — a network of paved paths and open areas for tailgating or picnicking.

With the building’s open, accessible architecture and the plaza’s inviting landscaping, the sports center is welcoming for all — regardless of athletic ability or inclination.