September 13, 2001

Versatile structure is built to fit

Traveling west along state Route 520, the University of Washington’s newest building might at first glance look like an airplane hangar or a barn — but no, it’s a collegiate athletic center.

Nestled beside Husky Stadium and the Women’s Fastpitch Softball Building, Dempsey Indoor houses a 100-yard football field and a 300-meter, five-lane running track.

The easiest approach to enclosing a space of this size is to build an enormous shed and fill it with the necessary uses. But this building was intended for an area where land is scarce, and potential impacts required careful study. The site is hemmed in on one side by a wetland buffer, on another side by an existing road, and on two more sides by existing buildings whose continued access, operation and level of comfort were of equal importance.

In response, the building envelope was cinched up wherever possible to mitigate perception of size, address the scale of adjacent structures and maintain some breathing room around the outside of the building. The design results in a building whose volume and plan tell the story of what happens inside.

The high central bay, or spine, of the building covers the football field. The appropriate height for this space, punting excluded, was determined by football-passing experiments in Husky Stadium with then-quarterback Brock Huard.

A clear span system of 15-foot-deep trusses delineates the “play zone” below, leaving a 67-foot clear height at the center of the field, gradually sloping to 51 feet at the sidelines.

All building systems hanging in the high bay (lighting, audio systems and netting dividers) are tucked up above the bottom chord of the truss to eliminate obstructions to play on the field. The upper walls of the high bay were positioned to allot the minimum space needed, beyond sidelines and end zones, to accommodate supply air diffusers, a field goal net, and two video platforms at mid-field and the south end, avoiding encroachments on the area directly above the field.

A lower bay encircles the central volume, housing the track and field events, with 28 to 30 feet of height clearance. The perimeter walls follow the form of the track, curving along with it at each end.

The building corners are drawn out to capture additional space for long jumping and pole vaulting. A net for shotput and discus practice is included as well. The proximity of these events to the outside walls required that all projections be kept to a minimum, encouraging the use of flush-mounted accessories and recessed fixtures. Similar precautions were exercised in areas of football runout, such as padding walls around the track events and wrapping columns and corners.

With such a variety of specialized athletic uses to serve — some concurrently — the facility needed to offer flexibility but remain simple.

A system of netting dividers that lowers from the ceiling may be used to cordon off full-width sections of the field, creating one 90-yard space, two 45-yard spaces or one 45-yard run at either end of the field. This allows for scenarios like field-goal kicking at one end of the facility and full-infield softball practice at the other, or a full-field soccer scrimmage with other athletes running the track. In addition to the full height dividers and field-goal net, there are also two batting cages that may be lowered at the north end zone, powered for pitching machines and overlaid from floor to ceiling with golf netting.

To join the many disciplines within a minimal building footprint, every square foot of Dempsey Indoor was purposefully programmed, and parts of the building’s skeleton and internal systems were externalized to help “clean house.” Support spaces were kept to a minimum and formed around the usable zones of both the track and field.

Restrooms, athletic equipment areas and spaces for building maintenance closely hug both ends of the running track, while the building’s lobby is pushed outside “the box,” creating a buffer zone between internal activity and entering users.

The building’s mechanical system was addressed in a similar fashion, with the air-handling units and exhaust fans situated outside on the low bay roof, and return ductwork hung down over the exterior walls. This not only eliminated physical programmatic interference, but also helped diminish noise inside.

Sound attenuation is a fundamental problem in all buildings of this size, so additional steps were taken to utilize perforated roof deck and dampening devices on the large mechanical equipment. Granulated rubber infill at the field level also helps absorb sound, though the effect was unintended.

Dempsey Indoor’s acoustics may not be highly sophisticated, but its success at a basic level promotes the building’s utility. It allows for clear communication within a very active space, helpful not only to coaches and athletes, but also to those attending social functions within the building. This secondary role of the facility — to host large gatherings — is further enhanced by an infrastructure that accommodates power, cable TV access and audio distribution.

As a whole, the building attempts to strike a careful balance between program and context by responding to the diverse needs of an athletic program and creating a dynamic architectural addition to the community. Dempsey Indoor is not a conventional fieldhouse, but rather one designed to best fit the University of Washington’s intercollegiate athletic program.

Other Stories:

• NW schools spend big to play indoors
  
• Husky practice building gives designers a workout
  
• Can’t get no liquefaction
  
• Bright lights, big facility