The facility’s site within the crowded campus athletic district posed a significant challenge, as the building needed to house a regulation-size football field while being appropriately sized to blend into the surrounding campus fabric. Several site locations were considered in order to find a configuration that optimized the indoor space without compromising the adjacent outdoor practice fields or the nearby Butts-Mehre athletics building. Building the IAF as an addition to Butts-Mehre allowed two outdoor practice fields to be maintained while collecting all football operations under one roof.
To mitigate the size of the facility, the design team lowered the level of the indoor field to align with the outdoor fields and chose exterior materials that complement the surrounding campus context.
