Perkins&Will - Northwestern University Ryan/Walter Athletics Center
  1. Home
  2. Award 2019
  3. Sport&Leisure
  4. Northwestern University Ryan/Walter Athletics Center

Northwestern University Ryan/Walter Athletics Center

Perkins&Will

Sport&Leisure  /  Completed
Perkins&Will
This project was spawned by Northwestern University’s goal of better integrating their student-athletes into the community of the academic campus by moving much of its practice and academic support facilities from its previous remote location to the northern end of its campus. The 40,000 sm athletic center provides training and indoor practice facilities for the athletic department, as well as supports the University’s recreation needs by layering on to its existing facility.

Given the opportunities of the site, with its adjacency to Lake Michigan and visible connections to both the University’s central campus and to the Chicago skyline, the goal was to maximize transparency and strengthen these connections while invigorating the student-athlete experience. Building functions are organized, both vertically and horizontally, to provide lake exposure to every space that could take advantage of it; from recruiting spaces to administrative offices to the spaces that the student-athletes will use most often.

Formal entries at opposite sides of the building provide a public access to the north, for Fieldhouse events, and a secured athletic entry to the southern campus side, for athletes, coaches and athletic administrators.

The fieldhouse is raised to the second level to allow an existing popular lakefront pathway to continue underneath its cantilevered northeast corner within the site limits. A sculptural 150m precast concrete coastal wall was calibrated and constructed to protect the building and the pathway from the waves and ice of Lake Michigan.

The fieldhouse dome maximizes the interior volume for the critical sport clearances, while responding to local zoning requirements on height – measured to the mean of the peak and the perimeter. Built-up steel plate arches span 80m to support the roof, from which a 120m long, 13m tall curtain wall is hung by tension rods. This custom façade delivers mullion-free panoramic views to the lake and adjacent beach and captures the natural light from the north.

Branding is a key element throughout, telling the storied history of Northwestern athletics. In the main athletic entry lobby, a three-story LED screen cycles through high-impact motion visuals of a student-athlete in action showcasing each of the program’s 19 sports. A ceremonial ‘All-sports Corridor’ features dynamic student-athlete graphics from each sport bringing them together in one place in the building- a high traffic corridor – for all to experience.

The Center is home to over 500 student-athletes. Spaces shared by all team sports, such as the dining hall, academic services suite, were placed in prominent, easily accessible locations to strengthen the community of the athletes.

Credits

 Evanston
 United States
 Northwestern University
 08/2018
 40000 mq
 Perkins+Will, Designer & Architect of Record; HOK, Associate Architect
 Ralph Johnson, Bryan Schabel, Michael Palmer, Chris Hale, Brian Weatherford, Dan Figatner, Michelle Malecha, Mark Walsh, Jean-Marie Joassin, Jennifer Williams, Justin Wortmann, Kerstin Kraft, Geoffrey Burroughs, Alyssa Carata, Lynette Klein, Katherine Dailey, Greg Tamborino, Lara Zakhem, Timothy Shoenborn, Jose Marti, Dennis Blau, Milena Todorovic, Bryan Howard, Kara Philips, Hector Reyes, Joshua Frank, Gokul Natarajan, Kristin Rosebrough, David Dymecki
 Joint venture team of Barton Malow and Walsh Construction
 Civil engineer and landscape architect SmithGroup, Structural engineer WSP USA, Mechanical engineer AEI
 n/a
 All photos © James Steinkamp Photography, except for NURWAC_in_cs_6574.jpg and NURWAC_in_cs_3401a1.jpg © Connor Steinkamp Photography

Curriculum

Since 1935, we’ve believed that design has the power to make the world a better, more beautiful place. That’s why clients on nearly every continent partner with us to design healthy, happy places in which to live, learn, work, play, and heal. We’re passionate about human-centered design, and how design can impact our lives through sustainability, resilience, well-being, diversity and inclusion, and mobility. Our team of 2,500 professionals provides worldwide interdisciplinary services in architecture, interior design, branded environments, urban design, landscape architecture, and more.

http://www.perkinswill.com


© Maggioli SpA • THE PLAN • Via del Pratello 8 • 40122 Bologna, Italy • T +39 051 227634 • P. IVA 02066400405 • ISSN 2499-6602 • E-ISSN 2385-2054