Architect : Newman Architects
Design Architect : RDG Planning & Design
Total Construction Cost : $74.8M
Square Feet : 70,424 (indoor athletic spaces), 2,970 (maintenance building)
Seating Capacity : 4,000 (soccer), 1,351 (baseball), 518 (softball)
Project Description:
UConn had a vision to build a new sports destination in the west district of the university’s Storrs campus. The aim was to create a facility that would be the home for the school’s soccer, baseball and softball teams. The new facility would also act as a strong recruitment tool that would focus on providing a great experience for both student-athletes and fans.
The new location posed several challenges and opportunities for the design team. One of the main challenges was to design four new fields and a performance center on the site of existing soccer, baseball and softball venues. To overcome this, the design team studied 16 different site permutations during the early design phase. They analyzed factors such as solar orientation and traffic/circulation flow, as well as conducted geological exploration of large below-grade granite deposits.
The Husky Athletic Village is comprised of Elliot Ballpark, home of UConn baseball; Morrone Stadium, home of UConn soccer and lacrosse; Burrill Family Field, home of UConn softball; shared practice fields, and the state-of-the-art Rizza Performance Center.
The Athletic Village is embedded in a beautiful native forest with steep topography, creating picturesque and stunning sports venues. The design embraces the site’s rugged beauty, playing into UConn’s culture of high fan engagement and attendance. The site itself has become an advantage for the home teams.