As recently as the early-1990s, NBA teams would practice at local college gyms. Just imagine, high-profile, multimillion dollar athletes working on their post-up games and pick-and-roll defense on the creaky floors and shaky backboards at Northwest Backwater U.
Eventually teams got their own practice facilities, and now teams are building state-of-the-art complexes filled with practice courts, locker rooms, fitness centers, hydrotherapy pools, dining halls, and medical and training rooms.
Everything is top-of-the-line, too. Teams want to make sure their players are happy, rested, and physically fit. Teams also use the facilities as a way to lure free agents, to make their team a place where the league’s best players want to play.
The Atlanta Hawks are shaping up to become one of those teams. The Hawks and Emory Healthcare and partnering to build a 90,000-sf training and sports medicine center in Brookhaven, Ga.
The building, designed by HOK, will be the NBA’s first practice facility to be located within a sports medicine center. The arrangement allows for immediate treatment and on-site access to advanced medical technology, like the 3 Tesla MRI, a body scanner that can detect injuries from bruises to torn ligaments. Emory will use 30,000 sf of the building for sports training and preventive and rehabilitative treatment.
The facility will also have equipment for 3D motion capture, cryotherapy, sensory deprivation, and in-ground hydrotherapy. Hawks players will receive training services from sports science company P3.
“By blending research, sports medicine, healthcare and training into one building, the Atlanta Hawks and Emory Healthcare will change the way the industry approaches athletic training and injury prevention,” George Heinlein, a Regional Rirector of HOK’s Sports + Recreation + Entertainment practice, said in a statement. “We have brought together HOK’s multidisciplinary leaders in healthcare, science and technology, and sports facility design to elevate the training experience and create a new model for professional and collegiate athletics.”
Construction will begin this summer, and the building will open in the fall of 2017, before the NBA season begins. The privately-funded center will cost roughly $50 million.
The Hawks currently practice in an auxiliary gym at their home at Philips Arena.
Related Stories
| Jan 13, 2014
Custom exterior fabricator A. Zahner unveils free façade design software for architects
The web-based tool uses the company's factory floor like "a massive rapid prototype machine,” allowing designers to manipulate designs on the fly based on cost and other factors, according to CEO/President Bill Zahner.
| Jan 11, 2014
Getting to net-zero energy with brick masonry construction [AIA course]
When targeting net-zero energy performance, AEC professionals are advised to tackle energy demand first. This AIA course covers brick masonry's role in reducing energy consumption in buildings.
| Jan 7, 2014
Concrete solutions: 9 innovations for a construction essential
BD+C editors offer a roundup of new products and case studies that represent the latest breakthroughs in concrete technology.
Smart Buildings | Jan 7, 2014
9 mega redevelopments poised to transform the urban landscape
Slowed by the recession—and often by protracted negotiations—some big redevelopment plans are now moving ahead. Here’s a sampling of nine major mixed-use projects throughout the country.
| Dec 27, 2013
$1 billion 'city within a city' development approved by Coachella, Calif., city council
The mega development includes 7,800 homes, a retail center, office space, and nearly 350 acres of open space.
| Dec 13, 2013
Safe and sound: 10 solutions for fire and life safety
From a dual fire-CO detector to an aspiration-sensing fire alarm, BD+C editors present a roundup of new fire and life safety products and technologies.
| Dec 10, 2013
16 great solutions for architects, engineers, and contractors
From a crowd-funded smart shovel to a why-didn’t-someone-do-this-sooner scheme for managing traffic in public restrooms, these ideas are noteworthy for creative problem-solving. Here are some of the most intriguing innovations the BD+C community has brought to our attention this year.
| Dec 9, 2013
Tips for designing higher education's newest building type: the learning commons
In this era of scaled-down budgets, maximized efficiencies, new learning methods and social media’s domination of face time, college and university campuses are gravitating toward a new space type: the learning commons.
| Dec 4, 2013
First look: Dubai's winning bid for World Expo 2020 [slideshow]
Dubai has been chosen as the site of the 2020 World Expo. HOK led the design team that developed the master plan for the Expo, which is expected to draw more than 25 million visitors from October 2020 through April 2021.
| Dec 3, 2013
Historic Daytona International Speedway undergoing $400 million facelift
The Daytona International Speedway is zooming ahead on the largest renovation in the Florida venue’s 54-year history. Improvements include five redesigned guest entrances, an extended grandstand with 101,000 new seats, and more than 60 new trackside suites for corporate entertaining.
