Tulane University Yulman Stadium, New Orleans, Louisiana
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TULANE UNIVERSITY YULMAN STADIUM View of the main entry plaza at dusk. Photo credit: Tim Griffith | Higher resolution images available upon request Yulman Stadium at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana Tulane University, a landlocked, open space-challenged campus in the heart of Uptown New Orleans, wanted to build a 30,000-capacity football stadium on an exceptionally tight site – in fact, at the narrowest point on the campus. The new $72 million Yulman Stadium nests itself into the heart of the Tulane’s athletics precinct. It provides a backdrop to a new athletics quadrangle while connecting to the existing Hertz and Wilson Centers. Construction began in early 2013 and was completed in early 2015. Yulman Stadium’s LEED Silver certification was achieved by incorporating the following sustainable design strategies: • Glass is shaded from the powerful New Orleans sunlight by overhangs; • Several small existing structures were integrated into the stadium, including a locker room and team shop; • A rain garden incorporated into the entry plaza uses native grasses and cypress trees to absorb and detain stormwater; • No new parking was created and overall impervious paving on site (from previous use as tennis and track facilities) was reduced; • High-efficiency stadium lighting was used, and LED lighting incorporated throughout concourses. Occupancy sensors were incorporated throughout inte- rior spaces; • A building automation system ensures efficient use of HVAC and other building systems; • Operable windows were incorporated into the enclosed club; • The project received LEED ‘innovation in design’ credits for exemplary recycled content and exemplary use of locally-sourced building materials. Perhaps most significant for sustainability, the Tulane team moved from playing football in the Superdome – an overscaled, air-conditioned dome – to an open-air stadium. The new stadium marks the first time in 40 years that football is being played on Tulane’s campus. It has become a catalyst for renewed interest in the University’s football program, successfully bringing back a generation of lost fans. Tulane’s alumni base is spread internationally. Each year thousands of former students and friends return to New Orleans and the school as casual visi- tors or participants in specific university activities. Athletic competitions, football games in particular, become great catalysts for this reconnection. Since the previous stadium was demolished in 1974, Tulane’s football team had played off-campus in the Superdome, a facility overscaled for the needs of a college football team and ill-suited to reinforcing team spirit. Moving from the 60,000-seat Superdome to the 30,000-seat Yulman Stadium gives Green Wave fans a more intimate environment to cheer on their team while also allowing for a tailgating experience. From the outset of the design process, the design team held true an underlying mantra, “Only at Tulane. Only in New Orleans.” The new stadium celebrates Tulane’s decorated athletic history and traditions using a modern architectural vocabulary that marries old and new. The university and architects Gould Evans faced considerable challenges in placing the new building onto its site, not only because of the restricted space, but also because of concerns by the Audubon Boulevard and Calhoun Street corridors immediately adjacent to the facility. These neighbors led an effort to blockade development of the stadium, citing anticipated noise, light-pollution and scale of the stadium as potential pitfalls. The architects responded with a design that minimizes its visual and physical impact through clever manipulation – each of the stadium’s four sides responds to its immediate context, scal- ing up or down as appropriate. Sensitivity to contextual conditions also influenced design decisions relative to architectural massing and material expres- sion. By keeping the seating bowl low along the west, and through the use of materials that closely relate to the residential nature of the area along with planting and screening elements, Gould Evans was able to integrate the stadium within the historic, low-scale fabric of the Uptown Residential District. The building seamlessly fits into its surroundings – it’s a fully functioning college football stadium on 6 Saturdays a year and a campus asset for the remain- ing 359 days – functioning as a teaching and gathering place for the Athletic and Student Life departments. This facility embraces Tulane’s South Louisiana- centric culture, customizing itself to this place and time while maintaining rule-of-thumb criteria specific to this building type: excellent sightlines, signature fan amenities, calibrated stadium lighting and acoustics among them. Among the stadium’s amenities are four high-end, air conditioned clubs serving local New Orleans food and alcohol, two decks in the end zones for entertaining, a 90-foot LED digital video board and a ground level suite at the end zone where the football team emerges from the tunnel. Tulane sold a record number of tickets during the stadium’s first football season, including sellouts for the opening game and homecoming. About Gould Evans Gould Evans is a design and planning firm whose principals and associates are united around a common vision: to create environments that transform their surroundings, engage their occupants, sustain their environment and support our clients’ missions. Our portfolio is intentionally diverse, encompassing higher education projects, athletics facilities, civic buildings, cultural institutions, living spaces, research facilities, workplaces, environmental branding and urban planning. Our designs have garnered local, regional and national awards for their specificity to people and place. Founded in 1974 by two former University of Kansas School of Architecture classmates who shared a passion for regional architecture and design, today our 11 principals lead more than 140 associates across five studios in locations as diverse as San Francisco, Kansas City, Lawrence, Phoenix and New Orleans. To learn more, visit www.gouldevans.com. Team Credits Architect: Gould Evans, New Orleans, LA Associate Architect: Lee Ledbetter + Associates, New Orleans, LA Structural Engineer: Thornton Tomasetti, Kansas City, MO M/E/P Engineers: ADG New Orleans, Inc., New Orleans LA Landscape Architect: Phronesis, Kansas City, MO Civil Engineer: Morphy-Makofsky, Inc., New Orleans, LA General Contractor: Woodward Design + Build, New Orleans, LA Building Address: Ben Weiner Drive, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118 Photo Credits: Tim Griffith, San Francisco, CA; Cory Fontenot, New Orleans, LA For additional information contact: megan krtek, 816.701.5422 / [email protected] Detail at concourse stair. Perforated metal screens filter the harsh Louisiana sunlight while providing natural light in circulation spaces. Photo credit: Tim Griffith | Higher resolution images available upon request The stadium in context; tightly surrounded by residential properties that border the Tulane University campus. Photo credit: Tim Griffith | Higher resolution images available upon request Looking vertically from main entry plaza at perforated metal screen wall, which shades the concourses along the east elevation. Photo credit: Tim Griffith | Higher resolution images available upon request View at stadium entry plaza with the Hertz Center in background (another Gould Evans project, completed in 2011). Photo credit: Tim Griffith | Higher resolution images available upon request The new stadium provides 30,000 seats for spectators, with 4,500 premium seats in two fan clubs. Photo credit: Tim Griffith | Higher resolution images available upon request Construction and detailing are modest yet rigorous; concrete, steel and glass are the primary palette of the new stadium. Photo credit: Tim Griffith | Higher resolution images available upon request View of the field from the southwest looking east. Photo credit: Tim Griffith | Higher resolution images available upon request Colonnade at east entry plaza. Photo credit: Tim Griffith | Higher resolution images available upon request The west elevation of the stadium carefully shields artificial light and crowd noise from the adjacent neighborhood. Photo credit: Tim Griffith | Higher resolution images available upon request Detail at perforated metal screen wall. Splays provided at the wall allow for views to downtown New Orleans and the Superdome. Photo credit: Tim Griffith | Higher resolution images available upon request Detail of perforated metal screen wall. Photo credit: Cory Fontenot | Higher resolution images available upon request The Glazer Family Club overlooks the liveliness of the entry plaza. Photo credit: Cory Fontenot | Higher resolution images available upon request Stairs to Westfeldt Terrace. Photo credit: Cory Fontenot | Higher resolution images available upon request Ground level concourses highlight Tulane’s history of football on way-finding graphics. Photo credit: Tim Griffith | Higher resolution images available upon request Ground level concourse on game day. Photo credit: Cory Fontenot | Higher resolution images available upon request Detail of way-finding graphics (also by Gould Evans) Photo credit: Cory Fontenot | Higher resolution images available upon request Perspective of the field from the President’s Suite. Photo credit: Tim Griffith | Higher resolution images available upon request View inside the Glazer Family Club, a premier club level private lounge space with 1,500 seats, two club