Liberty University’s Indoor Practice Facility provides a state-of-the-art training
facility with a full-size synthetic turf field that supports yearlong practice for football and other field sports. Located at the main entry corridor to the university, the facility offers a modern design with a tiered long-span roof
structure that steps down to minimize its scale and respond to the pedestrian context. The new facility aided Liberty’s bid for FBS status in 2017 and is supporting recruiting and training for the first FBS season beginning in 2018.
The field house’s transparency, openness and natural daylighting invite the outside in to create a luminescent outdoor room that contributes to feelings of health and wellness for student-athletes. Vertical slices of transparency along the entry and pedestrian corridors encourage passersby to selectively
peer inside and feel connected to the drama and discipline of athletics. Clerestory windows, skylights and colossal curtainwall openings enhance daylighting and offer views to the football stadium and natural setting beyond.
The facility also houses offices, restrooms, ample storage and lockers for visiting football teams playing at the nearby stadium. The facility measures 400 by 200 feet, with an arched roof form that is approximately 71 feet at its highest point. Clad in insulated metal panel with a precast base, the building
is anchored by brick bump-outs, while allowing the linear openings to maintain their transparency and modern aesthetic. The facility incorporates overhead aluminum and glass doors at entrance bays, a standing metal roof, metal panel and louver infill, storefront and acrylic glazing systems, and garage doors that connect to the full-size synthetic turf practice field outside. The front and back facades are inverses of one another, playing on transparent and opaque elements and offering a balance of extroverted visibility and concentrated focus for student-athletes.
Shakopee Ice Arena & Community Center
