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 | Oct 16, 2015
Competency-based learning: A glimpse into the future of higher education?
For better or worse, the higher education experience for many young Millennials and Gen Zers will not resemble the four-year, life-altering experience that we enjoyed—it’s just too costly.
University Buildings | Sep 21, 2015
Vietnamese university to turn campus into ‘terraced forest’
Pockets of plantings will be dispersed throughout the staggered floors of the building, framing the expansive courtyard at its center.
University Buildings | Sep 21, 2015
6 lessons in campus planning
For campus planning, focus typically falls on repairing the bricks and mortar without consideration of program priorities. Gensler's Pamela Delphenich offers helpful tips and advice.
Mixed-Use | Aug 26, 2015
Innovation districts + tech clusters: How the ‘open innovation’ era is revitalizing urban cores
In the race for highly coveted tech companies and startups, cities, institutions, and developers are teaming to form innovation hot pockets.
University Buildings | Aug 13, 2015
Best of Education Design: 9 projects named AIA Education Facility Design Award winners
Georgia Tech's Clough Commons, Boston's Berklee Tower, and seven other facilities were honored for aiding learning and demonstrating excellent architectural design.
Giants 400 | Aug 7, 2015
UNIVERSITY SECTOR GIANTS: Collaboration, creativity, technology—hallmarks of today’s campus facilities
At a time when competition for the cream of the student/faculty crop is intensifying, colleges and universities must recognize that students and parents are coming to expect an education environment that foments collaboration, according to BD+C's 2015 Giants 300 report.
Contractors | Jul 29, 2015
Consensus Construction Forecast: Double-digit growth expected for commercial sector in 2015, 2016
Despite the adverse weather conditions that curtailed design and construction activity in the first quarter of the year, the overall construction market has performed extremely well to date, according to AIA's latest Consensus Construction Forecast.
University Buildings | Jul 28, 2015
OMA designs terraced sports center for UK's Brighton College
Designs for what will be the biggest construction project in the school’s 170-year history feature a rectangular building at the edge of the school’s playing field. A running track is planned for the building’s roof, while sports facilities will be kept underneath.
University Buildings | Jul 21, 2015
Maker spaces: Designing places to test, break, and rebuild
Gensler's Kenneth Fisher and Keller Roughton highlight recent maker space projects at MIT and the University of Nebraska that provide just the right mix of equipment, tools, spaces, and disciplines to spark innovation.
University Buildings | Jul 2, 2015
Design for new pavilion in Toronto includes a ‘peel-away’ façade
An architect's proposal for a renovation of the main office building at the Ontario College of Art and Design features a façade that fans out from the edges of the building, like it’s opening up to visitors.
