School Construction News spoke with Don Barnum, AIA, national sports leader for DLR Group, about the design of the 52,923-square-foot facility and what it means to the University of Houston basketball programs.

Q: Why do you think the new facility is necessary for the University of Houston basketball programs?

Barnum: Today, every collegiate sports program must compete to recruit and then retain the highest-level student athletes and coaches. Training facilities, stadiums and arenas are all an indication of the commitment of the university to athletics and to the development of the student athlete. A dedicated player development facility, like the one DLR Group is designing for the Houston Cougars men and women’s programs, optimizes the transitions between practice, strength training, physical therapy, film review/coaching and studying for classes. Every minute of student athletes’ time is valuable, and all of these activities will take place within the new player development facility.

Q: What are the key design elements involved in the new facility?

Barnum: The new facility wraps around a corner of the existing basketball arena. This element provides a new public face for the historic Hofheinz Pavilion with a dynamic three-story entry lobby that will be highly visible on campus. The player development facility is a three-story building, housing all team and coaching spaces. It is flanked on each end by a dedicated practice court for both the women and men’s programs. The design includes a comprehensive strength and conditioning space and sports medicine facilities adjacent to the practice courts. The second level of the facility is only accessible by student athletes and athletic staff. This area houses locker rooms and film, study and lounge areas for the student athletes. A coaches’ office suite comprises most of the third level with views into the practice courts.

Q: What are some trends in basketball facility design that were incorporated into this facility?

Barnum: Again, time is precious for student athletes so the Houston Basketball Development Facility contains all the training and support spaces that both players and coaches need. A key feature is that the facility has identical facilities for both the men and women’s programs with dedicated practice courts for each program. Time is valuable, and scheduling doesn’t allow for sharing of court space. There are academic support spaces on the second level and theater-style film rooms for each team. There are full-service strength and conditioning and sports medicine facilities within the space instead of being located at a central campus location.

Q: Was there any student or staff feedback involved in the development of this facility? If so, what was it?

Barnum: The design of these development facilities must be a collaborative effort. It is essential to meet the needs of coaches and student athletes who will use the facility. Houston coaches, administrators and student athletes were involved in every aspect of the design. The coaches defined how they want to instruct in the locker room. The outcome of that is the design has lockers on three sides and the fourth wall has video display, white boards and tack boards for instruction and pre-game preparation. The coaching staff also weighed in on the court design and layout and, of course, their office space — all of which informed our design. Similarly, the strength and conditioning coaches and staff were instrumental in the layout and equipment selection in the weight room, and the training staff defined layout for sports medicine and hydrotherapy.

Q: How is this project different from other ones you’ve completed in the past?

Barnum: The culture of every university campus is unique. The Houston athletics administration defined the character and message they want the facility to portray for their basketball program and the University of Houston. Our role as designers is to make that vision a reality. The player development facility is designed to honor the program’s history and to provide a training and practice facility to set it on a course for future success. Everything about it is specifically designed for and unique to the University of Houston.

The post University of Houston Athletics Awaits Development Facility appeared first on School Construction News.

The $250 million stadium, equipped with 5,000-square-foot scoreboard, will seat 45,000 fans and replace the 63-year-old off-campus Floyd Casey Stadium positioned miles from campus. At 860,000 square feet, the stadium will include a pedestrian bridge providing connectivity with campus, nearly 250 portable and permanent concession points and canopy shades will provide shading to 45 to 55 percent of seats throughout the day.

Designed by Kansas City, Mo.-based Populous and constructed by a partnership between Dallas-headquartered Austin Commercial and Flintco, LLC with offices in Austin, Texas, the new stadium will provide a much grander view to the university’s team loyalty.

“The stadium will now become the front door to the university it has prominent visibility will provide year-round connection to the campus,” said Sherri Privitera, principal at Populus. “When fans come to game day they’re really going to be coming and experiencing campus now like they never have before.”

The 93-acre site is scheduled to open for the 2014 football season and will become a spectacle to those driving down I-35. Visitors can arrive easily by car and enjoy the increased parking spaces, by boat or by foot via the pedestrian bridge, Privitera said. Much insight for the design was drawn from the unique qualities of Baylor architecture, Privitera said.

“The inspiration really came from campus,” Privitera said. “We spent significant time on campus and with Baylor officials, drawing from what their goals are as far as the football stadium and the university as well as their connection to the city.”

The firm created a set of eight design principles from the information they gathered on campus, she said, adding that the columns and kind of brick used at the stadium is representative of the campus.

“We designed this stadium for Baylor,” Privitera said. “We would not design the aspects of the stadium for any other location”

The unique shape of the stadium was planned to shade as many football fans as possible given the several angles of the sun and the allotted budget for the canopy. The numerous shaded open concourses, which Privitera said are similar to a baseball stadium’s concourses, also provide additional views to the school.

“You have a connection back to the city, back to the university and to the surrounding site,” Privitera said. “You’ll also be able to stand on the lower or upper concourse and always be connected back to the game.”

The family-oriented design of the stadium will create a fantastic weekend experience with great tailgating opportunities, Privitera said, and its proximity to Waco nightlife, restaurants and businesses will generate a boost in the local economy.

“It will attract nationally and locally more attention to the stadium,” Privitera said.

The Baylor University Board of Regents also approved the $13.6 million track and field stadium project to be built on the far east side of the stadium. Populous will also design the 5,000-seat stadium that will include a 13,500-square-foot indoor practice facility.

"It is a great and humbling day for the Baylor track and field family," said Todd Harbour, head coach of Baylor’s track team, in a statement. "It will be a huge blessing for us to be on campus with all of our other outstanding facilities. When completed, the overall facility, including the indoor workout area, will be one of the nation’s finest track and field complexes.”

Construction on the track and field project is expected to begin this summer with a projected completion date of spring 2015.

The post Baylor Athletics Transforming Facilities appeared first on School Construction News.