New, Innovative Design to Create Iconic Brooklyn Landmark
All images courtesy of SHoP Architects
Brooklyn, NY – Bruce Ratner, the Chairman and CEO of Forest City Ratner Companies (FCRC), the developer of Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn, announced today that the award-winning architectural firms Ellerbe Becket and SHoP Architects will collaborate on the design of the Barclays Center, the new world-class sports and entertainment venue that will serve as the anchor of the planned development and home to the NETS Basketball team. FCRC also released new design images of the 675,000 square-foot arena, which will be located at the intersection of Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues in Brooklyn. The images can be seen at www.barclayscenter.com. The images and a model will also be available for public viewing at Brooklyn Borough Hall beginning at 10 a.m. on Monday, September 14, 2009.
“The Barclays Center will quickly become an iconic part of the Brooklyn landscape,” said Mr. Ratner. “The design is elegant and intimate and also a bold architectural statement that will nicely complement the surrounding buildings and neighborhoods. The Barclays Center will be innovative in its look and use of materials, including weathered steel and glass, and will be the best place in the world to watch a basketball game and other forms of sports and entertainment.”
Several images were released today that show the Barclays Center from different perspectives, including each major arrival point at the site perimeter. The arena was designed to accommodate other buildings on the arena block that will be part of the Atlantic Yards development, including three mixed-income residential buildings and the commercial building known as B1, along with the Urban Room that will provide access to the Barclays Center.
The building consists of three separate but woven bands. The first engages the ground where the weathered steel exterior rises and lowers to create a sense of visual transparency, transitioning into a grand civic gesture that cantilevers out into a spectacular canopy at the corner of Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues. The canopy, which is 30 feet above ground level, contains an oculus that frames the pedestrian’s view of the arena. The second, a glass band, allows for views from inside and outside of the arena. The third band floats around the roof of the Barclays Center and varies in transparency, the weathered steel creating backlit patterns.
The woven band of the canopy will flow out over the arena entrance, creating a seamless visual transition and helping to frame a large viewing portal into the seating area. The main concourse is placed right at street level, allowing a direct view to and from the street. Large areas of glass at street level make it not only pedestrian-friendly, but also encourage a strong visual connection to the surrounding urban neighborhood.
Construction is expected to begin on the arena later this year, with an anticipated opening during the 2011–12 NETS season.
William Crockett, Principal and National Director of Sports Architecture at Ellerbe Becket, which has designed some of the world’s most heralded sports facilities, including the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indiana and the iconic Guangdong Olympic Stadium in Beijing, said, “While the Barclays Center will be the most exciting venue in the country to watch a game, we believe it will also become a destination for people interested in design and the urban environment. We’ve given special attention to designing what will be the first of an entire new generation of high-performance multi-purpose arenas in the nation. One of the notable assets to the fan experience is the arena’s seating configuration; whether fans attend a NETS game or a concert at the Barclays Center, visitors will have a dramatically intimate view of the action plus a direct visual link of the surrounding neighborhood.”
Gregg Pasquarelli, a Founding Principal at SHoP Architects, the New York based firm that is designing the East River Waterfront at the South Street Seaport and the new Fashion Institute of Technology C2 Building, and is the winner of the 2009 National Design Award for Architecture Design, said, “The design of an arena in an urban context requires a critical balance between an iconic form and the street. It must be legible at multiple scales – on the skyline, from five blocks away, from the plaza and while touching the door. It must also have an identity that delights the occupants, visitors and neighbors.” Jerry del Missier, President of Barclays Capital, said, "This is a striking contemporary design for the Barclays Center. Barclays is proud to be part of the redevelopment of Brooklyn and of bringing professional sports back to the borough.” The state-of-the-art facility will have 18,000 seats for basketball and up to 19,000 seats for concerts. There will be 100 luxury suites, including 16 Brownstone Suites (16 seats each), 67 Loft Suites (10 seats each), 11 Courtside Suites, four Club Suites and two Party Suites. The arena will also include 40 loge boxes, six clubs and restaurants, and the NETS practice facility on site.
The Barclays Center currently has eight Founding Partners, including ADT, Anheuser-Busch, Cushman & Wakefield, EmblemHealth, MGM Grand at Foxwoods, MetroPCS Communications, Jones Soda Co., and Phillips-Van Heusen. These Partners will be featured prominently in distinct “neighborhoods” such as the ADT Plaza, the Cushman & Wakefield Theater, the EmblemHealth Entrance, the IZOD-Nets Team Store, the MGM Grand @ Foxwoods Bar, the MetroPCS Pavilion, and the Jones Soda Shoppe.
In January 2007, Barclays, a leading global financial services company, and the NETS announced a multi-faceted strategic marketing and media partnership that includes a 20-year naming rights of the arena. Media interested in using high resolution images should contact Brian Moriarty at 212.981.5252.
About FCRC
Forest City Ratner Companies (FCRC), a wholly owned subsidiary of Forest City Enterprises, owns and operates 30 properties in the New York metropolitan area. Forest City Enterprises, Inc., a $11.7-billion NYSE-listed national real estate company, is principally engaged in the ownership, development, management and acquisition of commercial and residential real estate and land throughout the United States.
About Ellerbe Becket
Ellerbe Becket is internationally recognized as a leader in the architecture, engineering and interior design industries. The firm’s sports practice specializes in the design of “best in class” facilities that are renowned for providing outstanding patron experience AND catalysts for urban redevelopment. Time-tested examples span the country - from Verizon Center in Washington, DC to Qwest Field in Seattle. With offices worldwide, the firm has designed more arenas than nearly any other architectural firm, including 15 new arenas for the NBA and NHL in the past two decades. Ellerbe Becket brings together fans, athletes, sponsors, and communities through the design of iconic venues that are efficient to build, own and operate. The firm has collaborated with design Architects including Pei Cobb Freed, Wood and Zapata, KCF and Cesar Pelli – and is honored to add SHoP to their list of strategic partners. Ellerbe Becket has designed New York icons including the NY State Psychiatric Research Institute and the SUNY Binghamton Academic Buildings & Research Greenhouse. 2009 marks Ellerbe Becket's 100th anniversary.
About SHoP Architects
SHoP Architects, a 60 person practice, founded by its five principals in 1996, has been a leader in the transformation of intricate theoretical design into easily understood construction models by rethinking architectural practice. This think tank has pushed the designer’s realm past form making and into software design, branding, real estate development, construction, and the co-development of new sustainable technologies. As both practitioners and educators, their commitment to challenging the entire process of building has proven to a generation of architects that beauty and technological proficiency are not mutually exclusive. Their current work includes a two-mile waterfront park along New York’s East River, and projects for the Fashion Institute of Technology and Goldman Sachs, both in Manhattan, and Google in Mountain View, CA. Recently completed projects include Garden Street Lofts in Hoboken, NJ, Hangil Book House in Seoul, South Korea, The Porter House in New York City, and SanLiTun in Beijing. SHoP’s work has won numerous awards, including the 2009 National Design Award for Architecture Design, awarded by Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. SHoP's work has also been published and exhibited internationally, and is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
Contact:
Joe DePlasco, 212.981.5125
