HAMDEN, Conn. — As the old adage goes, “Good things come in pairs” — a notion that Quinnipiac University in Hamden seems to have taken to heart with two new sports venues underway at its campus.

The adjacent facilities will serve as many as five athletic teams at the university (Go Bobcats!), with one designed for both men’s and women’s soccer and lacrosse, and the other intended to accommodate women’s field hockey. After four years in the making, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was hosted at the new stadiums this past September, just in time for the 2017-18 season.

The university paid approximately $28 million for the initiatives, which includes the cost of design, construction, approval, equipment and related miscellanea. As with previous projects, Centerbrook, Conn.-based Centerbrook Architects & Planners (CP&A) was the university’s go-to design team.

“Centerbrook has been doing work at Quinnipiac for many years. Our relationship is good,” observed Sal Filardi, vice president for facilities and capital planning at Quinnipiac University.

Founded in 1929, the private university is located near Sleeping Giant State Park and offers 58 majors. It also prides itself on its athletics program, which includes most collegiate sports that require a ball, racquet and/or cleats — sans football.

“Quinnipiac doesn’t do everything, but what we do, we try to do at the very highest levels,” Quinnipiac University President John Lahey opined on the school’s athletics website. “These two stadiums, the complex, facilities and fields are certainly the best quality you are going to find anywhere in higher education today.”

The looming question, naturally, is why two new venues, and why are they adjacent?

“The venues are essentially renovations of existing fields,” said Filardi. “The new lacrosse soccer stadium occupies a similar location as our old artificial turf field, previously used for lacrosse and field hockey, and the new field hockey stadium occupies the space where our old grass field, previously used by rugby, was located. The rugby program currently uses the old grass soccer field across the street that was renovated into a full-sized rugby pitch.”

The renovations proved fruitful for the two-time defending national champion Quinnipiac women’s rugby team, which won its season opener against longtime rival Army West Point at its first-ever game on its new field at the university’s Mount Carmel campus.

“The two venues will work in tandem to create a unified athletic complex that also safeguards the adjacent wetlands,” said CP&A Partner Jeff Riley, FAIA, in a statement. “Abundant plantings and low-profile structures will merge harmoniously with the wooded setting.”

Both venues maintain the traditional look of Quinnipiac’s main academic and residential campus architecture with brick and cast stone façades.

“Brick and cast stone is a pretty typical design aesthetic and construction detail. The design was intended to tie the structures into the campus aesthetic,” said Filardi.

Besides matching its aesthetic forebears, each venue features a full complement of support spaces, including locker, team and training rooms for the competitors and staff as well as broadcast-ready press boxes for the media, and First Aid and restrooms for spectators.

Construction on the soccer and lacrosse venue began last fall. The project includes permanent seating for up to 1,500 spectators and an infill turf playing surface. There are also two covered terraces for spectators and special events located on top of the grandstand. Earlier this year, construction began on the field hockey venue. This includes permanent seating for up to 500 fans as well as an artificial turf field. Consistent playing conditions will be maintained through a high-velocity irrigation system set around the periphery of the pitch.

To read the entire article, check out the September/October issue of School Construction News.

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Designed by Centerbrook Architects & Planners of Centerbrook, Conn., the project was part of a larger master-planning project that included the construction of two new facilities built on the institution’s Upper School campus.

“An academic LEED building can be particularly satisfying, infusing the education with the sustainable and teaching outside the classroom with the building itself,” said Centerbrook partner Mark Simon, FAIA, in a statement. “University School has a splendid 100-plus year history of experiential learning. Seeing what something is made of leads to thinking about how and why — eliciting curiosity about almost everything. We eagerly built on that tradition.”

For example, the project’s overall narrow orientation and deep windows maximize daylight without overheating. Meanwhile, the exposed concrete structure and open-grid ceilings store thermal energy to minimize heating and cooling needs. The pond loop geothermal system is an affordable energy-saver that also serves as a teaching tool.

“Sustainability continues to be an important theme for University School,” said Headmaster Richard Bryan in a statement. “We were able to add 50,000 square feet with no increase in energy costs thanks to the creative solutions provided by Centerbrook. The quality of the space is also an important factor in maximizing teaching and learning. Students and teachers express how appreciative they are to have such compelling learning spaces.”

The building’s features tallied 56 points on the LEED scale to earn BD+C (Building Design + Construction) Silver, including 16 out of a possible 19 points for optimizing energy performance, according to a statement by Centerbrook Architects & Planners. The project also earned two-thirds of the points available in the indoor environmental quality and innovation categories.

“With each new LEED-certified building, we get one step closer to USGBC’s vision of a sustainable built environment within a generation,” said Rick Fedrizzi, CEO and founding chair, USGBC. “As the newest member of the LEED family of green buildings, University School’s Academic & Science Wing is an important addition to the growing strength of the green building movement.”

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“We are grateful for the commitment that President John Lahey has made to Quinnipiac athletics as we strive to be one of the top athletic departments in the country,” said Quinnipiac Director of Athletics and Recreation Greg Amodio in a statement. “These new fields will provide our varsity teams and student athletes with premier facilities that rival those of our peer institutions and will allow Quinnipiac Athletics to continue to grow into an elite program.”

Construction on the soccer and lacrosse venue began last fall. The projects will include permanent seating for up to 1,500 spectators and an infill turf playing surface. There will also be two covered terraces for spectating and special events located on top of the grandstand.

Earlier this year, construction began on the field hockey venue. This includes permanent seating for up to 500 fans as well as an artificial turf field with a high-velocity peripheral irrigation system common for the sport.

Both venues, scheduled for completion in time for the 2017-18 athletic seasons, will feature several support spaces including locker, team and training rooms for the competitors and staff; broadcast-ready press boxes for the media; and a first aid area and restrooms for spectators.

“The two venues will work in tandem to create a unified athletic complex that also safeguards the adjacent wetlands,” said Centerbrook Partner Jeff Riley, FAIA, in a statement. “Abundant plantings and low-profile structures will merge harmoniously with the wooded setting.”

Design features of the complex include brick and cast-stone facades to mimic the traditional look of the university’s main academic and residential campus architecture. This will allow the two athletic venues to blend seamlessly with the rest of the campus look and feel.

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