The newest addition to the University of South Florida's (USF) growing athletic program, the Pam and Les Muma Basketball Center, is receiving national recognition for its innovative design.
The $11 million training facility for the
university's men's and women's basketball teams was designed by the
R.R. Simmons Design/Build Team. Providing a practical and sustainable build, the
state-of-the-art facility features practice courts, game study rooms, lounges, locker rooms and coach offices.
Featuring a design method called "tilt-up concrete'' -- a method of construction in which individual wall panels that make up the facility are cast on site and then erected into place -- the
Tilt-Up Concrete Association recently took note of the design team's innovative approach.
“This is a very green approach since transportation costs for the project are greatly reduced,” says R.R. Simmons CEO Randy Simmons. “The primary panels of the Muma Center are insulated and are about 13 inches thick -- the heaviest panel we erected on the project weighed more than 200,000 pounds.”
Situated next to the
Sun Dome, the design team was presented with the challenge of wedging the 51,000-square-foot building into a uniquely shaped piece of land. R.R. Simmons faced these challenges creatively, delivering a smart facility that's already considered by sports experts to be one of the top five training centers for basketball.
“The facility will help USF recruit the nation's top student athletes,” says Simmons. “With that growth, further visibility in the university will occur, only strengthening the value of educational promise at USF.”
For more information on the Pam and Les Muma Basketball Center, visit USF's
official website.
Writer:
Alexis Quinn Chamberlain
Source: Randy Simmons,
R.R. Simmons Design/Build Team
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