LEED Certified
When the NFL’s Detroit Lions made the decision to relocate their headquarters and training facility, the goal was to create a state of the art football campus that would accommodate the team’s training and operational needs for years to come. The Detroit Lions leadership was committed to a construction strategy that would incorporate some exciting Green Building technologies into the construction process. The primary focus during the project was to reduce the impact the building would have on natural resources during construction while still delivering a facility that would meet the franchise’s needs.
The new 253,000 SF facility (including outdoor practice filed) was delivered under a Design Build format. The facility includes 115,000 SF of indoor space, two regulation size football fields, locker rooms, weight/training rooms, rehabilitation facilities, an auditorium, support offices, and a broadcast studio.
Project Features
Rapid Renewable Resources
The Detroit Lions leadership desired an office environment that reflected the organization’s commitment to tradition and excellence. Wood flooring naturally creates a warm ambiance that has a distinct and pleasing aesthetic feel for visitors and employees. Being that natural hard wood floors are constructed from materials that some times require 30 years of growth before they can be harvested, this option would significantly impact the environment.
The Design Build team recommended that the lobby flooring for the facility be constructed from bamboo, which is a grass that features the hardness of oak and beech trees. Bamboo is highly durable and provides an identical feel and appearance to hardwood flooring. Most importantly bamboo grows very quickly, and when harvested chutes re-grow faster and quicker, making this material a rapidly renewable resource.
Recycled Building Materials
The centerpiece of the project is one of the Nation’s largest indoor practice fields featuring a 110 foot ceiling to simulate a stadium environment. The 95,000 SF foot field is comprised of a synthetic grass surface made from recycled materials. Manufactured by a Montreal-based manufacturer, Field Turf is a superior artificial grass surface installed in the best professional and amateur sports facilities in the world. The Field Turf design uses rubber granules to mimic natural soil and provide cushion to players’ bodies, particularly easing the impact on leg joints and injuries typical on older synthetic surfaces.
The Detroit Lions ownership encouraged the use of recycled automobile tires, in place of new rubber granules that are standard in other Field Turf applications. The shredded tires provide identical surface performance. The tire material, if not recycled would have been otherwise disposed of in landfill facilities, posing an ever-growing problem to the environment. This solution eliminated the need for manufacturing new rubber, which requires additional natural resources and releases toxins and noxious gasses into the environment.
Natural Lighting
NFL players must be in peak physical condition, and train intensively to build strength to compete against world class professional athletes. Weight training and conditioning are an essential part of any players program. The Detroit Lions facility spared no expense in creating an exceptional physical training facility, and yet managed to incorporate elements that provided Green Building benefits. Large windows allow the abundant flow of natural light into the conditioning facility, which is more pleasing to the human optical system. This results in satisfaction from the players and staff who use the facility around the clock.
Electronic motion sensors were installed to control the lighting system and monitor the availability of natural light in the room. When the facility is in use the sensors will ensure the appropriate amount of lighting remains on. When the facility is vacated, the sensors automatically turn the lights off, conserving electrical energy.
Recycled Rubber Floor
The weight room floor was constructed of recycled rubber. Just as the practice field turf, this material cushions players’ joints as well as reduces the wear and tear on the floor’s surface from weights and other workout equipment. JM Olson Corporation was able to identify the proper consistency needed to serve this purpose. The end result is an environmentally responsible world-class fitness facility.