Two-lane bowling alley, wiffle ball field, nine-hole mini-golf course, 24-seat HD movie theater, indoor slide, VR studio. Clemson University has certainly upped the ante when it comes to elite Division I football recruiting with its newly christened $55 million Football Operations Complex. The 142,500-sf facility, which opened just three weeks after Clemson’s national championship win over the University of Alabama, adjoins the indoor practice facility and outdoor practice fields, consolidating football operations into one complex. It is the largest football-specific facility in the U.S.
Designed by HOK (sports design architect) and GMC (architect of record), the facility serves as a home away from home for players and staff, with amenities that allow the student-athletes to train, study, and unwind in the same place. Performance spaces include hydrotherapy rooms (both polar and thermal plunge pools), a lap pool, steam room, weight and fitness training centers, a 175-seat auditorium, NFL scout room, and technology for weight tracking and body composition.
Additional leisure and entertainment amenities: outdoor basketball court, barbershop, volleyball and bocce courts, Gatorade fuel bar, and a Nike gear and championship display. It even has spaces dedicated for family visits, like an outdoor kitchen and grilling area, outdoor lounges with gas fire pits, a secluded bonfire pit with rocking chairs, a 20x20-foot inflatable screen for outdoor movies, an integrated family lounge in the player’s locker room, and a covered patio for 75 people.
DPR Construction was the GC on the project.
Courtesy HOK.
Courtesy HOK.
Related Stories
University Buildings | Aug 12, 2024
Planning for growing computer science programs
Driven by emerging AI developments and digital transformation in the business world, university computer science programs are projected to grow by nearly 15% by 2030.
Education Facilities | Aug 4, 2024
A former supersonic wind tunnel becomes a new educational facility for transportation design
The Mullin Transportation Design Center at ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, Calif., provides access for full-scale vehicular models, replicating a professional design studio.
University Buildings | Aug 1, 2024
UC Riverside’s student health center provides an environment on par with major medical centers
The University of California, Riverside's new Student Health and Counseling Center (SHCC) provides a holistic approach to wellness for students throughout the UC Riverside campus. Designed by HGA and delivered through a design-build partnership with Turner Construction Company, SHCC provides healthcare offerings in an environment on par with major medical centers.
Student Housing | Jul 31, 2024
The University of Michigan addresses a decades-long student housing shortage with a new housing-dining facility
The University of Michigan has faced a decades-long shortage of on-campus student housing. In a couple of years, the situation should significantly improve with the addition of a new residential community on Central Campus in Ann Arbor, Mich. The University of Michigan has engaged American Campus Communities in a public-private partnership to lead the development of the environmentally sustainable living-learning student community.
Adaptive Reuse | Jul 30, 2024
Empty mall to be converted to UCLA Research Park
UCLA recently acquired a former mall that it will convert into the UCLA Research Park that will house the California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy at UCLA and the UCLA Center for Quantum Science and Engineering, as well as programs across other disciplines. The 700,000-sf property, formerly the Westside Pavilion shopping mall, is two miles from the university’s main Westwood campus. Google, which previously leased part of the property, helped enable and support UCLA’s acquisition.
Smart Buildings | Jul 25, 2024
A Swiss startup devises an intelligent photovoltaic façade that tracks and moves with the sun
Zurich Soft Robotics says Solskin can reduce building energy consumption by up to 80% while producing up to 40% more electricity than comparable façade systems.
Great Solutions | Jul 23, 2024
41 Great Solutions for architects, engineers, and contractors
AI ChatBots, ambient computing, floating MRIs, low-carbon cement, sunshine on demand, next-generation top-down construction. These and 35 other innovations make up our 2024 Great Solutions Report, which highlights fresh ideas and innovations from leading architecture, engineering, and construction firms.
University Buildings | Jul 17, 2024
University of Louisville Student Success Building will be new heart of engineering program
A new Student Success Building will serve as the heart of the newly designed University of Louisville’s J.B. Speed School of Engineering. The 115,000-sf structure will greatly increase lab space and consolidate student services to one location.
University Buildings | Jul 11, 2024
3 considerations for designing healthy, adaptable student dining
Amanda Vigneau, IIDA, NCDIQ, LEED ID+C, Director, Shepley Bulfinch, shares three ways student dining facilities have evolved to match changes in student life.
Laboratories | Jul 3, 2024
New science, old buildings: Renovating for efficiency, flexibility, and connection
What does the research space of the future look like? And can it be housed in older buildings—or does it require new construction?
