In 2007, the University of Florida decided to add women’s lacrosse as a sport. The Donald R. Dizney Stadium/Florida Lacrosse Facility houses the new program and also meets the practice needs of the university’s women’s soccer team.
The project includes four components — a lacrosse competition field, flanked by spectator seating that separates it from the soccer practice area; practice fields for lacrosse and soccer; a building that houses the lacrosse locker room and training facilities; and spectator seating and ancillary lacrosse spaces.
The exterior of the building reflects two primary goals — to relate to other Florida athletic venues and to celebrate the sport of lacrosse. The use of red brick on the buildings and site walls visually connects the facility to nearby structures and existing athletic venues throughout campus. The project also celebrates lacrosse by introducing patterning in the brick at the entrance piers that is an abstraction of the lacrosse stick webbing. The entrance also incorporates crossed steel tubes to support the floating roof form and directly recall the raising and crossing of lacrosse sticks after a goal.
The exterior brick is continued into the lobby to visually connect the interior and exterior and create continuity with other Florida athletic venues. Visitors to the locker/training building are greeted by two large blue walls with recessed orange lacrosse graphics. The orange areas are designed to receive future glass shelving for trophies as the new program gains success.
