When Clemson University’s female student population increased to a majority of the student body, the university introduced two new women’s sports programs — gymnastics and lacrosse — to demonstrate its unwavering commitment to equity in sports and remain compliant with Title IX.

Within 18 months of that announcement, Clemson had planned, designed and broken ground on a world-class Women’s Sports Complex that proved its desire to provide unprecedented, female athlete-centric facilities.

“When Clemson Athletics commits to facilities, best is the standard,” said Clemson Executive Senior Associate Athletic Director Eric Sabin. “The new Women’s Sports Complex reflects our dedication to lacrosse and gymnastics and to women’s sports overall. Our strategy was to design the best in the country for those student-athletes.”

HNTB and South Carolina-based architectural firm Garvin Design Group were retained to complete gymnastics and lacrosse facility feasibility studies. Clemson wanted to ensure that both installations would fit within the athletic district, an area on the west side of campus that is home to all Tiger athletic facilities.

After reviewing multiple possible locations for the buildings, the Athletic Department chose a site overlooking Lake Hartwell, adjacent to the women’s rowing building. Project leaders established a scope that included not only lacrosse and gymnastics facilities, but also a rowing center renovation and a new 10,000-square-foot elite athlete training and recovery center.

“As a team, HNTB and Garvin collaborated to make the best use of the site and put a modern twist on the new facilities, allowing us to push the envelope farther than we have before,” Sabin said.

Clemson held a groundbreaking ceremony in December 2022. By January 2024, the women’s lacrosse, gymnastics and rowing programs cut the ribbons on their new and updated, state-of-the-art facilities, setting a new U.S. standard for women’s sports and an industry precedent for how fast visionary architecture can be designed and delivered.

“We were thrilled to work with Clemson and such a dynamic group of people on this groundbreaking project for athletics,” said Terry Buchmann, Garvin Design Group principal and project manager. “And we were excited to continue our design partnership with HNTB and promoting women’s sports at Clemson and delivering world-class facilities for each of these programs.”

Fast-track design and construction

Designing and building the new spaces demanded a fast-track timeline. The HNTB-Garvin project partnership allowed the two firms to complete plans for three new buildings, the rowing center renovation and the lacrosse stadium in just nine months.

To accelerate construction, the design team leveraged the speed and efficiency of pre-engineered metal buildings. The prefabrication engineer shared standard baseline design details, and the team adjusted those details to align with design goals.

The structures were customized with high-end exterior and interior finishes — light wood tones, added windows and energy-efficient systems — resulting in a first-class, aesthetically pleasing complex. Each building has its own distinct space, personality, scale and interior detailing, giving athletes in each sport an individual sense of identity while maintaining commonalities with other Clemson buildings to unify the new sports complex to the rest of the campus.

Clemson’s Athletics Department also worked closely with Lake Hartwell’s owner, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Clemson community to ensure the public would continue to have access to heavily used pedestrian nature trails on the forested land where the Women’s Sports Complex was built.

“We embraced the environment around the complex,” Sabin said. “We fit the project within the confines of the trails to maintain them in their original setting, making sure the facilities matched by using naturalistic tones and environmentally friendly approaches.”

The Women’s Sports Complex brought added improvements like new sidewalks, lighting and security cameras in parking lots that also increase safety for people who utilize the lakefront.

Athlete-centric design

“In every endeavor, Clemson holds themselves to a standard of excellence,” said HNTB Design Principal Eric Maxwell. “When they start a team, their posture is to invest and position the athletes to immediately be competitive and win.”

The 21,000-square-foot gymnastics operations and training facility boasts a lobby, practice gym, offices, locker room, lounge and training room. Knowing natural light improves learning and well-being, the project team incorporated creative design elements, such as an east-facing glass wall in the gymnastics facility. A large expanse of polycarbonate panels on the south and southwest sides allow sunlight to filter through a line of trees outside, bathing the interior in an ultrasoft light that helps enhance performance.

The gymnastics coaches wanted the exercise floor to be the centerpiece of the training space. Designers brought that vision to life by creating a light-filled lobby that provides spectators and visiting summer camp families with unobstructed views of the exercise floor.

To accommodate practices, when gymnasts require a mirrored wall, the design team created a sliding partition of mirrored panels that expands for practices and contracts for compact storage. The training space also features hydraulic lifts that allow for effortless adjustment to the landing pad height, enhancing the flexibility of practice techniques for the gymnasts.

“The gymnastics facility is a great example of the HNTB/Garvin display of teamwork and commitment to the project,” Sabin said. “Garvin echoed the Athletic Department’s desire for a lot of natural light, and HNTB’s experience using polycarbonate panels and other substrates allowed that light to be diffused so it did not interrupt training in the facility.