VMDO Architects

Supporting Student Success + Integrity

Athletic facilities should celebrate and build on the legacy of an institution while conveying principles of integrity, passion, and perseverance to athletes and attendees. During practice, training, and games, these qualities of character – communicated through the built environment – should inspire and drive success. Just as athletic facilities can provide inspiring backdrops for learning on the field or court, they should also support academic study as well as dining, recreation, and social opportunities. By bringing to bear the breadth of our education design expertise, VMDO offers a comprehensive perspective on creating lively live/work/play environments for athletic communities and student athletes.

Creating a Memorable Game Day Experience

The game day experience is a highlight for communities large and small. No matter the event, the venue should provide an exceptional atmosphere for competition and connection. Beyond the arenas, stadia, and track + field complexes that serve as magnetic venues on game day, practice & training facilities as well as recreation & fitness spaces are integral to creating active, healthy players and communities.

The architecture behind the game day experience must facilitate exciting competition while also supporting the fans – students, alumni, benefactors, and other patrons who deserve facilities that provide a high level of comfort, convenience, and connection. VMDO specializes in designing facilities that are both exciting and intimate – places where interaction and engagement are not just witnessed, but also felt and remembered. By integrating outside-the-box design strategies with a detailed understanding of amenities and event logistics, we encourage fans to come back again and again.

Fostering Flexibility

For collegiate athletes, facilities need to meet their specialized needs and schedules while seamlessly supporting opportunities for training, study, and socializing. For the client, flexibility is key to ensuring a facility satisfies the needs of a diversity of users, for a variety of uses. VMDO ensures both audiences are satisfied by designing multi-purpose facilities that are as finely tuned as they are flexible. Examples of such flexibility include collegiate arenas that support competition, concerts, and tradeshows, and field houses that host track competitions while also housing intramural sports for basketball, tennis, and volleyball.

Celebrating Place

The Athletics + Community studio builds on synergies with the Higher Education and K12 studios to create memorable athletic facilities designed to meet short- and long-term needs. Through our firm-wide knowledge of campus planning, we offer a contextual sensitivity that builds on what is most powerful – socially, emotionally, and physically – about a place in order to embed those details into the architectural strategy of an iconic athletic facility.