The University of Nebraska Omahaās hockey program has experienced modest success since its establishment in 1997, but last year marked the Crimson and Blackās first brush with the elite. The Mavericks reached the 2015 NCAA Frozen Four, the semifinal round of the NCAA Menās Division I Ice Hockey Tournament.
TOP 50 SPORTS FACILITY ARCHITECTURE FIRMS
Rank, Firm, 2015 Revenue
1. Populous $113,741,160
2. HKS $81,220,737
3. HOK $58,589,000
4. Gensler $42,850,000
5. HNTB Corporation $13,419,171
6. Cuningham Group Architecture $10,238,235
7. Moody Nolan $9,800,000
8. Sink Combs Dethlefs $9,719,919
9. VOA Associates $9,577,715
10. Stantec $8,654,844Ā
TOP 60 SPORTS FACILITY CONSTRUCTION FIRMS
Rank, Firm, 2015 Revenue
1. Mortenson Construction $837,136,000
2. AECOM $692,550,000
3. Turner Construction Co. $452,522,888
4. PCL Construction Enterprises $368,505,497
5. Manhattan Construction Group $277,528,000
6. Barton Malow Co. $266,882,651
7. Holder Construction Co. $154,000,000
8. Skanska USA $150,328,639
9. Brasfield & Gorrie $141,714,487
10. Pepper Construction Group $129,770,000Ā
TOP 30 SPORTS FACILITY ENGINEERING FIRMS
Rank, Firm, 2015 Revenue
1. AECOM $30,000,000
2. Thornton Tomasetti $21,316,147
3. ME Engineers $18,950,000
4. Walter P Moore $18,678,163
5. WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff $18,245,000
6. Henderson Engineers $18,179,333
7. Smith Seckman Reid $7,981,930
8. Jacobs $6,930,000
9. Magnusson Klemencic Associates $4,134,707
10. KJWW / TTG $3,320,000
UNO hockeyās good times keep rollinā on. Last fall, the school opened the $86 million, 220,000-sf Baxter Arena, the teamās new home. Designed by HDR and Lempka Edson Architects, the 7,898-seat arena has 17 luxury suites, 750 club seats, and a 750-seat student section. Open concourses let fans see the game even when standing in line for concessions. A split bowl design keeps spectators on top of the ice.Ā
The arena, which also hosts basketball and volleyball, isnāt just for UNO sports. The building is a focal point for the entire community. An attached community ice rink stands at the front of the building. (The UNO varsity plays on the main rink.) The public can access the community rink for open skate, curling, and club hockey. With 25-to-30-foot floor-to-ceiling windows, light is drawn in during the day; at night, visitors outside the building can peer in and see the ice.Ā
In addition to concerts, shows, and lectures, Baxter Arena has emerged as the preferred setting for local graduation ceremonies. The Omaha World-Herald reported that 13 area high schools booked the arena for commencements this spring. The arenaās seating capacity is comfortably in between constrictive and cavernous. Free parking for 2,400 vehicles will easily accommodate all its guests.
Other schools are renovating existing structures or building new sports facilities that can serve the student body and surrounding community.
GAINING YEAR-ROUND USE
The 9,500-seat Pavilion at Ole Miss, in Oxford, Miss., opened in January. Home to the Rebelsā menās and womenās basketball teams, the University of Mississippiās multipurpose arena, designed by AECOM, also hosts concerts, events, and academic and student activities. A retractable lower bowl allows seating for group lectures and convocations.
The Pavilion Club on the eastern side of the arena serves as multi-use club space between basketball and football seasons. Since itās right across a walkway from Vaught Hemingway Stadium, it will be a pre-game and game club during football season.
Even on non-game days during the week, students can access a food court just inside the north arena entry. It features two concession stands and comfortable seating, with a covered exterior plaza space.
MIXING SPORTS AND ACADEMICs in south bend
The University of Notre Dame is undertaking an even more complex sports/academic project. The South Bend, Ind., school is in the throes of turning Notre Dame Stadium into the hub of the campus. Total stadium capacity is being enlarged by 3,000ā4,000 seats. Vinyl-clad benches are replacing wood bench seats, and a new video board and ribbon boards are being installed.
But the upgrade doesnāt stop at the stadium ticket window. Three new academic buildings are being built onto the stadium. The Campus Crossroads Project will add more than 800,000 sf of classroom, research, digital media, event, and student life space.Ā
Nate Appleman AIA, LEED AP, HOKās Director of Sports, Recreation, and Entertainment, says university officials looked at the site and determined that they had the room to turn the site into a focal point right in the core of campus. He says the question became, How does Notre Dame capitalize on that?
The nine-story Duncan Student Center sits on the west side. The first five floors contain fitness facilities, lounges, a meeting room, a career services center, a dining area, and a ballroom. The upper floors have gameday features like premium seating and booths for coaches and media.
The nine-story Corbett Family Hall, which houses the anthropology and psychology departments and a digital media center, sits on the east side. Its upper levels have the stadium press box, outdoor club seating, and club space. The seven-story Music and Sacred Music hall for the Department of Music and the Sacred Music program is located to the south. That facility has recital and rehearsal halls, a music library, and a lounge. Mechanical space for the scoreboard and football operations is on the uppermost story.
HOK was the sports, recreation, and hospitality consultant to S/L/A/M Collaborative (design architect). HOK designed in-stadium features, such as n loge boxes and press facilities. The new HOK-designed Student Recreation Center in the Duncan Student Center features an indoor track, a four-story climbing wall, boxing areas, and training turf. The facility triples the amount of fitness space available to students. The firm also designed terraces on each building that will offer views of the playing field and campus.
Appleman says that the concept of making a stadium into an environment thatās inhabited 365 days a year as a campus core building is an idea thatās replicable.
āThis is going to be something thatās going to spread like wildfire throughout the college landscape, no doubt,ā he says.
Ā
RETURN TO THE GIANTS 300 LANDING PAGE
Related Stories
| Feb 24, 2022
Signs of āAntiworkā appear in the architecture industry
Reddit's r/Antiwork forum highlightsĀ the mounting pressures everyday workers face in a purely capitalistic society. AEC industry professionals are not immune to these pressures.
Office Buildings | Feb 23, 2022
The Beam on Farmer, Arizonaās first mass timber, multi-story office building tops out
The Beam on Farmer, Arizonaās first mass timber, multi-story office building, topped out on Feb. 10, 2022.
Codes and Standards | Feb 21, 2022
More bad news on sea level rise for U.S. coastal areas
A new government report predicts sea levels in the U.S. of 10 to 12 inches higher by 2050, with some major cities on the East and Gulf coasts experiencing damaging floods even on sunny days.
Wood | Feb 18, 2022
$2 million mass timber design competition: Building to Net-Zero Carbon (entries due March 30!)
To promote construction of tall mass timber buildings in the U.S., the Softwood Lumber Board (SLB) and USDA Forest Service (USDA) have joined forces on a competition to showcase mass timberās application, commercial viability, and role as a natural climate solution. Ā
University Buildings | Feb 18, 2022
On-campus performing arts centers and museums can be talent magnets for universities
Cultural facilities are changing the way prospective students and parents view higher education campuses.
University Buildings | Feb 17, 2022
A vacated school in St. Louis is turned into a center where suppliers exchange ideas
In 1871, The Carondelet School, designed by Frederick William Raeder, opened to educate more than 400 children of laborers and manufacturers in St. Louis.Ā The building is getting a second lease on life, as it has undergone a $2 million renovation by goBRANDgo!, a marketing firm for the manufacturing and industrial sectors.
Sponsored | BD+C University Course | Feb 17, 2022
Metal roofing trends
New ideas in design and constructability are radically changing how metal systems are used as roofing for commercial and institutional buildings. Behind the investment in these new kinds of expressions and construction approaches is a growing interest in improved performance and reduced environmental impact. Metal roofing systems can cut cooling and heating loads significantly, according to the EPA.
Data Centers | Feb 15, 2022
Data center boom: How two AEC firms plan to meet unprecedented demand for data center facilities
Ramboll's Jim Fox and EYP Mission Critical Facilities' Rick Einhorn discuss the recent joining of their companies at a time of unprecedented data center demand. BD+C's John Caulfield leads the discussion with Fox, Ramboll's Managing Director for the Americas, and Einhorn, EYP Mission Critical Facilities' Managing Director.
Architects | Feb 15, 2022
Binkley Garcia Architecture and Goodwyn Mills Cawood join forces in Nashville
Goodwyn Mills Cawood (GMC) is pleased to announce the acquisition of architecture and interior design firm Binkley Garcia Architecture in Nashville.Ā
Resiliency | Feb 15, 2022
Design strategies for resilient buildings
LEO A DALY'sĀ National Director of Engineering Kim Cowman takes a building-level look at resilient design.Ā