A stylized steel and glass football is the newest icon of the 2002 world championship Tampa Bay Buccaneer football team. The football — poised at a 45 degree angle as if ready for action — also symbolizes the ingenuity that overcame the design challenges of creating this sculptural form at this new home to all Tampa Bay Buccaneer football team operations.
The three buildings that comprise the Buccaneer’s headquarters are a two-story, 116,960 s.f. main office building with the football at its entrance, a 19,360 s.f. weight training building, and a 1,000 s.f. maintenance building, all on 14-plus acres. The project delivery method was fast-track, design-build, which promoted a direct line of communication between the contractor and the design team to deliver a top-notch product to an organization that demands quality and excellence.
The Design
The Main Building façade is a mixture of composite metal panels, glazed curtain wall, and stucco on a structural steel frame. This building contains team operations and corporate offices, physical therapy space including hydrotherapy pools, along with media relations, ticket sales, coaching offices, team meeting space and video production studios.
The Weight Building façade is primarily composite metal panels and glazed curtain wall on a structural steel frame with a curved metal panel roof. This building houses the state-of-the-art weight training facility, arguably the best in the country.
An approximately five-story-tall football icon fabricated of structural steel is integrated into the main entry of the building. Of monumental dimensions, the football is 70 feet from tip to tip. Because it stands at a 45-degree tilt, it is 55 feet tall from ground level and 40 feet wide. Its 22-ton weight is framed with steel on large spread footings to keep it stable and anchored in case of hurricanes.
The football was built on the ground from the center out and lifted into place by three cranes. The lower tip of the football sits centered on four main columns, and the tip does not touch the ground. It is closed-in with cladding. The glass face of the building slides through the football, separating the building’s interior and main entry’s exterior with the facility’s front desk located directly under the center of the football.
The design team developed a 3D model that was invaluable in allowing the architect, contractor, and detailer to visualize how the innovative football framing was to connect to the main building’s steel framing. The various renderings created from this 3D model also added value: they were used by the architect to complete the interiors, by the contractor to grasp how they were going to “dry in” the building, and by the steel detailer as a starting point for creating their shop drawings.
Lessons Learned
Because of the innovative and complex aspects of incorporating a sculptural element as part of the building — instead of having it stand on its own — communication between the design team and the owner and the design team and the contractor was vitally important. The design team took a proactive approach to addressing the owner’s needs and desires and to addressing the contractor’s constructability challenges. This direct communication was an instrumental part of the design-build process that delivered a NFL franchise headquarters that players, coaches and owners alike are proud to call home.
Design-Build Project Team
Builder:
Hunt/Sierra, a Joint Venture (Hunt Construction Group & Paul J. Sierra Construction)
Architect:
Wagner Murray Architects
Structural Engineer:
Walter P Moore
INFO: Walter P Moore (www.walterpmoore.com)