News
Date: February 3rd 2006 Project: Allen Fieldhouse
LAWRENCE, KS – Allen Fieldhouse: it’s a tumultuous place for visiting teams. A shrine to the game. It celebrates basketball’s origins, a sport whose forefathers, including legendary coach “Phog” Allen, are said to still haunt the building and bring the Jayhawks good luck to this day. So one can only imagine the pressure architects faced when presented with the challenge of altering the hallowed hall of Phog.
In fact, University architect Warren Corman jokingly said of anyone who dreamed of replacing the Fieldhouse: “We kill everybody who asks about that. We shoot them and bury them underneath the Fieldhouse.”
Collegiate sports architects HOK Sport survived the challenge of adding a new front door and a home for the salute to University of Kansas sports in the Booth Family Hall of Athletics. HOK project designer Bob Krohn said working with such a nostalgic space was definitely at the forefront of the project.
“We really had to put our minds into that of the original architect to preserve the spirit of the building,” Krohn said. “Our client was the University, but we also had to design for the student-athletes and the millions of fans who connect with Allen Fieldhouse as a core memory of their college experience.”
By creating an appropriate scale and a sweeping, curved façade, HOK added to the front of the Fieldhouse without altering the concept of the overall building. Also, the design team used a similar palette of materials as the Fieldhouse – including Manhattan White limestone from the same Kansas quarry and the original blue doors – but with more of a contemporary look and feel.
A skylight above the new space provides a glimpse upward to the original building and allows visitors to the Booth Family Hall of Athletics to feel a connection to the 51-year-old limestone walls. Additionally, the original structure’s front exterior now serves as an interior wall to the Hall.
Inside the 26,000 square foot space, custom designed displays and graphics pay tribute to more than 100 years of collegiate athletics at the University. The space also includes two meeting rooms and a team store.
“If anything, we preserved the Fieldhouse’s presence,” said Krohn. “Even though it has a new face, the aura of Allen Fieldhouse still exists. If I were a player on an opposing team, I would still hate to play there.”
For further information please contact
Gina Leo at HOK Sport (Kansas City)
Telephone: +1 816 221 1500
Facsimile: +1 816 221 1578
Email media@hoksve.com