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US Lacrosse
National Lacrosse Center
Baltimore, MD
Completion: 2007
Size: 40,000 gsf (building)
6 Acres (park)
Cost: $25,000,000
To accommodate the rapid growth of their organization and the sport
itself, U.S. Lacrosse retained Ayers/Saint/Gross to study the relocation
of their facilities to Harbor Point in the Inner Harbor of Baltimore.
The study included site analysis, a master plan, and the development
of a building design at a conceptual level. The primary focus of the
study was the integration of the proposed building and amenities within
a flexible and inviting park-like open space.
Harbor Point is one of the few remaining available sites on the Inner
Harbor. Once the home of an Allied Signal chrome factory, the site is
now capped. It is planned for redevelopment as a mixed use area including
offices, residential units, retail and a park. The redevelopment must
accommodate restrictive zoning and site issues. A portion of the park
is reserved for a cultural building with the intended purpose of activating
the park and creating an iconic public use in the spirit of the other
great museums and cultural attractions linked around the Inner Harbor.
This cultural facility will be the National Lacrosse Center.
The site is organized to maximize open space at the water’s edge,
to integrate an exhibition field for the National Lacrosse Center, and
to collect the stormwater for the greater Harbor Point site. These site
elements are complimentary since a field position near the water blends
seamlessly with a similar park location. Also, the stormwater collection
system will be located beneath the field. Gray water will be used for
irrigation and for a fountain. An additional site challenge is the accommodation
of the impervious remediation cap located four feet beneath the grade.
The National Lacrosse Center program includes office space for the
administration of US Lacrosse, a museum and hall of fame. The conceptual
building organization locates public uses at the street level while making
the most of the dramatic site within the park and along the Baltimore
waterfront. The building acts as an entry to the open space while creating
an interesting and beautiful edge to the park.
The integration of the National Lacrosse Center with the open space
occurs on many levels. The entry to the building is located under a dramatic
cantilever creating a protected public space that allows framed views
of the park, field and harbor. The museum, hall of fame and special events
space are located within the cantilever that provides visitors with incredible,
unrestricted views of the park, the harbor and the city.
The nature of the brown field site presented both challenges and opportunities
to highlight the creation of a great civic space on the Baltimore Harbor.
The proposed National Lacrosse Center and Harbor Point site are compatible
and offer a rare opportunity to bring together a sport with a great history
and the city which has been its historic home. |