May 30, 2024

Engineering planning and project team collaboration for a new season, new home

Sempel

Cook

Christenson

As the civil engineers for the Seattle Storm Center for Basketball Performance, we understood the challenge from the start: combining all the desired uses into a tight Interbay lot with a high groundwater table, while achieving a design that would meet the ambitious construction schedule to support the opening date.

COURTS THAT PROVIDE BENEFITS ABOVE AND BELOW

Our first hurdle was meeting site drainage requirements for an outdoor space that would do double duty: serving as player and staff parking that can convert into two 3x3 tournament basketball courts.

Typical vault detention was not feasible, but a corrugated-metal pipe system kept excavation above the groundwater table and significantly reduced cost while still providing detention for the entire site of 1.17 acres - the equivalent of around ten basketball courts.

Rendering courtesy of ZGF Architects [enlarge]

The Seattle Storm will host summertime 3x3 tournaments on these exterior courts. Drainage for the one-acre site is tucked below the colorful court area.

This then required utility covers for maintenance access. However, covers would introduce a slippery surface, a hazard to be avoided for player safety. We worked with ZGF Architects and Walker Macy to meet the grading requirements for the courts and successfully locate all access hatches outside the court area.

Our final touch: the team produced a special design for these access covers. Because stormwater code only requires the word “storm” on the covers, Coughlin Porter Lundeen was able to help convince the city to allow the design team to use the customized covers with the Seattle Storm name and logo. We were honored to provide input on the design and couldn’t be prouder that the Center’s access covers were specially designed for the team players and fans, and all say “Seattle Storm!”

PROJECTS SUCCEED OR FAIL IN IMPLEMENTATION

As engineers, we know the success of the best laid plans is determined by thorough planning and implementation. Construction on the Seattle Storm Center began in early 2023 with a groundbreaking ceremony in March, aiming to open for training camp’s start April 28, 2024.

Manhole detail by EI Group, Inc.

Because stormwater code only requires the word “storm” on the covers, the design team was able to convince the city to approve the customized covers with the Seattle Storm name and logo.

During the final review stages, an issue was identified that would affect the pipe routing to the bioretention planter. This would have lowered the ceiling height in the pool and recovery area, creating a cramped space for the players. To avoid these impacts, we worked with the plumbing, architecture and landscape teams to relocate the planter to a location that improved the pipe routing in the building and maintained the full ceiling height while expediting SDCI’s approval for this post-permit revision.

Nimble, collaborative teams are invaluable when surprises occur in the field. Toward the end of construction, an unexpected street condition threatened to delay building occupancy. The street improvement permit required an asphalt grind and overlay on West Bertona Street, however, the contractor found the asphalt section was not paved to standard thickness and was too shallow to accommodate the planned process. Normally, this would require an entire street be repaved at full depth — both expensive and time-consuming. We worked quickly with the contractor and SDOT to produce a solution that kept costs down, lowered the environmental impact, and met the opening target date.

EXTENDING THE BENEFITS BEYOND THE PROPERTY LINE

Photo courtesy of Coughlin Porter Lundeen [enlarge]

Stormwater covers were located outside of the courts for player safety and feature customized covers with the Seattle Storm name and logo.

The Seattle Storm organization is committed to benefiting the communities that support them. Their non-profit Force4Change responded to a community suggestion that they fund public art to enhance the area around the Center and so Storm Country was born.

Public art requires careful planning and often multiple permits. We studied locations for sculptures, painted crosswalks and intersections, street murals, pole banners, and utility box wraps. A neighborhood walk with Storm leadership and the mayor’s office allowed us to explain the options, and the best locations were selected and approved.

We are currently leading the approval process for street use and right-of-way permits from SDOT and public art advisory review. We have completed this for the first sculpture placement, helping the alliance of Force4Change and Urban Artworks in their mission to amplify the work of Black women artists in their community art, and we are excited to see more artwork unveiled.

It has been an honor to work with this highly collaborative team to establish the Seattle Storm’s new home, and we look forward to watching the team continue building space for girls and women to succeed in even more unprecedented ways!

Coughlin Porter Lundeen’s women-led team included Jackie Sempel, civil associate principal; Bailey Cook, civil project manager; and Katlyn Christenson, civil project engineer.

Other Stories:

• Designing the first ground-up WNBA practice facility
  
• The Seattle Storm’s new home: a beacon for women-led change
  
• Setting a new standard for energy-efficient and low-carbon design for professional sports facilities
  
• A landscape to embody the Storm’s identity and mission