Northwestern Seeks Designs For New $220 Million Athletic Complex

Northwestern University is asking architects from around the world to submit proposals for a new athletic complex planned for the north end of campus. 

The university announced the design competition in a press release yesterday. Planned as a renovation and addition to the current athletic center, the new facility will be accompanied by a 1,200-car parking garage on the site of existing surface parking lot west of the current sports center.

According to the university’s website, the new facility will include practice, training and competition venues for varsity sports, a new diving well, new locker rooms and new spaces for exercise classes. The estimated construction cost of the new complex is $220 million, according to the university. 

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Designs are due early next year, at which point the university will choose four to six firms for the final round of the competition based on drawings and preliminary interviews.

“We believe this process gives us the best opportunity to obtain an outstanding design for this critical location,” Ron Nayler, associate vice president for facilities management, said in the press release. Nayler noted that the university had used the same competitive design process for two other new buildings under construction on campus, the new Bienen School of Music and School of Communication and the new Kellogg School of Management. 

The university expects to select a winning design late next summer, according to the release. The timeline for construction depends on how quickly the university can raise funds.