4. INSTRUCTION
RESEARCH
sports economy athletic center and research facility
for the study of sports across a multitude of disciplines
state-of-the-art teaching institution for sports economy
academics and athletics
PROGRAM
DIAGRAM
SERVICES
sports medical clinic serving social, human, and cultural
needs of Chicago
media
science
technology
management
athletics
SES PROGRAM COMPONENTS
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SES | SPORTS ECONOMY SCHOOL MASTER PLAN
13. DESIGN
NARRATIVE
PROJECT UNDERSTANDING
JGMA has been selected to design the Sports Economy School (SES) Master Plan in order to
bring their unique curriculum and vision to life. JGMA understands and appreciates the impact
such an inspiring and visionary project will have on Chicago, its youth, and its communities; and is
extremely excited and honored to play a role in bringing it to fruition.
PROGRAM
SES’s diverse program required a thorough analysis prior to any design investigation. To fully
comprehend the complexities, the design team chose to simplify the program into its component
parts. These major programmatic elements include the Teaching Institution, Sports Medical Clinic,
and the Athletic Center + Research facility. From there, the design team conducted an analysis
based on these programmatic needs, such as required size, adjacencies, footprint and the scale
of an overall volume. We then used this information to arrange the program appropriately on the
site in order to generate a cohesive and organized plan arrangement that respects adjacency
needs and programmatic restrictions and limitations. Such an approach allowed us to look at the
big picture in order to maximize the potential for a successful, outstanding, and innovative project.
CONCEPT
JGMA’s vision for SES is to create a complex which is based on connectivity; an idea that stems
from a multifaceted program which has many components that are interdependent. Because
of this, the design of the programmatic elements are physically connected, thereby creating a
cohesive organization of parts that not only serve the purpose of movement throughout the facility
but also to inform the architecture. Our initial concept was that of a single path that meanders
throughout the site, poking throughout the building, creating indoor and outdoor connection. This
connectivity of many pieces stretching across the project site and interweaving to become a
functioning whole , can abstractly be understood by the comparison of how muscles fibers work
together.
Through this concept, we can continue to push the boundaries of what this complex can
architecturally and formally become, but also and most importantly, how meaningful it will become
to strengthen SES students and the community.
PLAN ARRANGEMENT
The SES Master Plan is arranged in such a way that an elevated plaza level stretches from the
North of the site to the South. This level provides the facility with a multitude of benefits: first, it
provides a safe and relaxing place for students to occupy during their free time and independent
study. Secondly, it provides many spaces for students, researchers, and athletes to gather and
interact at many different scales. And lastly, it places spectators of the Outdoor Athletic Facility at
a high viewing platform from which they can descend downward towards the athletic fields.
In order to accommodate an urban site, the baseball, soccer and football field are nested
together as much as possible, while maintaining an orientation most appropriate for their
respective field orientations in the Chicago area. While evoking the feeling of an area of its own,
the Outdoor Athletic Facility is simultaneously adjacent to every element of rest of the complex,
reinforcing the connectivity all throughout.
The Sports Medical Clinic is located to the Northwest of site, creating a accessible ground
connection with the rest of the neighborhood. The School is located in an upper terrace above
the clinic, which transitions to north east side of the complex creating a north face with retail on
the ground floor and Student Housing on the upper floors. The school volumes extends south to
slowly become the interior research athletic facility then it bends west to provide space for larger
interior athletic facilities such as basketball courts, a running track, tennis courts, etc.
SES IDENTITY
JGMA is aware that SES aspires to become Chicago’s best athletic education facility. To this
end, we have designed a scheme that cohesively connects the different elements throughout the
site. The “muscle fiber” approach creates a connection to the ground level, not only horizontally
throughout the entire complex but also vertically. These different levels provide space for terraces
both landscaped and hardscaped, but most importantly, space that can be inhabited by the
different users of the facility. In order to create a smooth transition vertically, the building itself
accommodates architectural ramps and grand stairs. Some of these key architectural elements
include the main grand stair on the north main entry, the grand stair on the south side by the
indoor athletic facility, and most importantly all the stadium seating that wraps the Outdoor
Athletic Facility.
To further reinforce SES identity, JGMA created a façade system that utilizes the SES logo in an
abstracted pattern. The facade of the entire facility is a singular element, visually supporting the
concept of connectivity. The facade is a metal rain screen technology which is perforated with the
triangular shape reminiscent of the SES logo. The perforations vary in size and density across the
facade to achieve different levels of transparency according to the program within.
10.10.14
SES | SPORTS ECONOMY SCHOOL MASTER PLAN
15. PROGRAM
DIAGRAM
Sports Economy School
-40 classrooms @ 20 students ea
-Common Interactive Spaces
-Sports Science Lab
-Resource Center
-Meeting Rooms
-Study Rooms
-Cafeteria
-Auditorium
Student Housing
Corporate Offices
Conferencing Center
Retail
Outdoor Public Space
Parking
120,000 sf
55,000 sf
45,000 sf
20,000 sf
10,000 sf
N/A
105,000 sf
Sports Research Laboratories
Indoor Athletic Facility
-Standard Fitness Center
-Gymnasium
-Crew
-Fencing
-Archery
-Dance
-Martial Arts
-Yoga
-Basketball
-Volleyball
-Ice Hockey
-Locker Rooms
-Pool/Aquatic
Outdoor Athletic Facility
-Soccer
-Football
-Baseball
50,000 sf
120,000 sf
N/A
40,000 sfCommunity Sports Medical Clinic
-Sports Media
-Sports Science
-Sports Technology
-Sports Management
PROGRAM SF BREAKDOWN
10.10.14
SES | SPORTS ECONOMY SCHOOL MASTER PLAN
