Built on the shores of Lake Michigan in Evanston, Ill., the Ryan Fieldhouse opened to Northwestern University students in April. Now, the Walter Athletics Center, which is connected to the Ryan Fieldhouse and was also designed by Perkins+Will, has opened as well.
The four-story Walter Athletics Center houses academic and professional development support services for more than 500 student athletes, a nutrition center and dining facility, two sports performance centers, a sports medicine and athletic training hub, sport-specific locker rooms for eight varsity teams, and office space for coaches and administrators. Additionally, the building includes a three-story LED screen with images of Northwestern’s 19 athletic programs, interactive touchscreens throughout, and wall panels with black and white images of athletes in action.
Exterior from North. James Steinkamp/James Steinkamp Photography.
A covered terrace wraps around the eastern and southern facades of the new facility to visually connect the building to the Chicago Skyline. The south and east sides of the Center overlook the outdoor football practice field and the soccer, lacrosse, and field hockey stadium.
See Also: New living/learning facility at the University of Illinois at Chicago breaks ground
A major goal of the new facility was to integrate student athletes more completely into campus life. The Center brings remote training facilities to the main campus, all near residence halls and classroom buildings. Separate, secure entrances were designed to accommodate different users such as football and Olympic sports athletes, visitors for events, staff, faculty, administration, and coaches.
Perkins+Will designed the space in collaboration with HOK. Also on the Build team was SmithGroup (civil engineer and landscape architect), WSP USA (structural engineer), and AEI Affiliated Engineers (mechanical engineer).
Ryan Fieldhouse from Southeast corner. James Steinkamp/James Steinkamp Photography.
South lobby of Walter Athletics Center. James Steinkamp/James Steinkamp Photography.
Olympic Sports Corridor. James Steinkamp/James Steinkamp Photography.
Related Stories
| Jun 8, 2012
Thornton Tomasetti/Fore Solutions provides consulting for renovation at Tufts School of Dental Medicine
Project receives LEED Gold certification.
| Jun 8, 2012
Chestnut Hill College dedicates Jack and Rosemary Murphy Gulati complex
Casaccio Yu Architects designed the 11,300-sf fitness and social complex.
| Jun 1, 2012
New BD+C University Course on Insulated Metal Panels available
By completing this course, you earn 1.0 HSW/SD AIA Learning Units.
| Jun 1, 2012
K-State Olathe Innovation Campus receives LEED Silver
Aspects of the design included a curtain wall and punched openings allowing natural light deep into the building, regional materials were used, which minimized the need for heavy hauling, and much of the final material included pre and post-consumer recycled content.
| May 31, 2012
2011 Reconstruction Award Profile: Seegers Student Union at Muhlenberg College
Seegers Student Union at Muhlenberg College has been reconstructed to serve as the core of social life on campus.
| May 31, 2012
New School’s University Center in NYC topped out
16-story will provide new focal point for campus.
| May 31, 2012
Perkins+Will-designed engineering building at University of Buffalo opens
Clad in glass and copper-colored panels, the three-story building thrusts outward from the core of the campus to establish a new identity for the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the campus at large.
| May 29, 2012
Reconstruction Awards Entry Information
Download a PDF of the Entry Information at the bottom of this page.
| May 24, 2012
2012 Reconstruction Awards Entry Form
Download a PDF of the Entry Form at the bottom of this page.
