Washburn Indoor Athletic Facility, Topeka, Kan.

by Rosa Soto | 15 September 2022 12:00 am

Schwerdt Design Group designed Washburn Indoor Athletic Facility at Washburn University with two sections: a field side with a retractable barrel roof and a track side with a lean-to roof.

Clint Riggs, project manager at Crossland Construction Co. Inc., says, “Our steel crews self-performed the erection of the metal building and structural steel. The truss section was built on the ground and lifted with a four-crane pick. That process was somewhat challenging due to the building’s 180-plus foot span. We worked with the engineer to make it happen.”

The facility is 146,000 square feet and houses a football practice field and 200-meter, 12-degree banked running track that is parallel to the field. At trackside, there is a shotput throw area with shotput netting, three pole vault boxes and two sand jump pits. Three administrative offices and a track meet control room are also on this side of the facility.

The field side of the building has four batting cages, two for baseball and two for softball. There are dropdown field goal nets at each end. A divider net separates the two sections, field and track, at midfield so separate practices can be held simultaneously. Nets throughout the facility retract to ceilings. They are passcode-controlled with a touchscreen at midfield. For events, the athletic complex has seating for 1,500 spectators.

“We built the structure using insulated metal panels,” Riggs says. “Translucent panels on all four sides let natural light in throughout the day.”

Crossland erected Metallic Building Systems’ metal building system with a 65-foot-high eave. The project also used a standing seam roof system.

Source URL: https://www.metalconstructionnews.com/projects/washburn-indoor-athletic-facility-topeka-kan/

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