SAN FRANCISCO — There’s no place like home! Just ask the Cal Berkeley basketball teams as they prepare to open their seasons in the new Haas Pavilion, an updated and expanded version of the venerable Harmon Gymnasium. Seating capacity has nearly doubled, student seating is doubled and — best of all — basketball has returned to the traditional site of contests and competition on the University of California at Berkeley campus.

The Haas Pavilion will provide a “front door” to the campus for fans, prospective students, alumni and faculty.

“The challenge is striking a balance between creating the total fan experience and encouraging academics,” said Ellerbe Becket’s Bill Crockett, a principal in the firm’s San Francisco office. “This is truly a special place because it enhances the experience of attending a game on campus, and it provides the amenities that people desire in a collegiate facility.”

Highlights of the new Haas Pavilion include:

• A club with exterior views of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge
• Theater-style seating
• Upgraded concession and food courts, plus a Golden Bear team store
• 12,000 seating capacity, up from 6,300 in the old Harmon Gym
• The last row of seats in Haas is no further from the court than the first concourse level of the Oakland Coliseum (where the Cal men played last season)
• 3,000 seats (25 percent of capacity) for students, many starting at courtside
• Academic spaces with classrooms, offices and human biodynamics lab
• Home of varsity athletics (locker rooms, weight training, sports medicine)

In addition, Ellerbe Becket currently is designing or renovating arenas at UNLV and the universities of Maryland, Miami, Missouri and Oklahoma. An innovator since its founding, Ellerbe Becket provides integrated architecture, engineering, interiors, planning and construction services from 12 office locations worldwide. The firm is celebrating its 90th anniversary in 1999.