Stadium Design- Feedback needed!

[Gibson2Worthington]

I'm designing a basketball stadium for a Uni Assignment.

I have a fairly good idea of what I want. I'm from Melb and have been to most stadiums around Vic.

Its going to be fairly extravagant- 8 courts and a showcourt.

What I need help with is all the little things. From everyone's experiences, you would have seen something at a stadium that you really liked. So please share here.

This can be anything from how the carpark was designed, where to best put the scoreboards ect.?

Appreciate any feedback.

[aussieBaller]

Carpark: Needs 2 entrances and exits. Ie NOT Dandenong.
Entrance: Large Like Dandenong
Food: must have like Knox one for drinks and lollies and one for hot food.
Showcourt: needs to be viewable from the bar. IE Geelong and Dandenong and have permenent seating.
Other Courts: No more than 3 courts per enclosure. MSAC is crap as it has 8 and when the games are all on at the same time, you don't know which buzzer on whistle is which.
Scoreboards: Need to be at one end of the court

[catcountry]

Must have a scoreboard at each end of the court.
Must have dedicated seating on the show court, not bleachers
Suggest fixed grand stand on one side of the show court and extendable seating on the other.
shot clock and game clock displayed above (or behind) the back boards
Change rooms must have high spouts on the sinks to fill your drink bottles
Suitable tap and sink to fill your water barrel (or even better a water fountain on the stadium wall at either end of the court near the player's bench.
Must have at least six dressing rooms to service that number of courts
public facilities well away from the player's facilities.

[The Unbias Bias]

Worst scoreboard allocation i've ever seen is at hawkesbury, on the back courts not the main ones so its not that big a deal. They had these smallish 1m x 60cm (approx) scoreboards which only displayed time, scores n fouls, positioned on the wall 5 metres directly in line behind the backboard on one end. The backboards arent see through so most of the game ur in search of ur own score or time left.

Most of the ideas thrown up seem to be well justified and from various experiences at a number of different stadiums. For a stadium that big multiple canteens is a must as are the entries, although ud want to be able to block the 2nd tier one off for big events. No more than 3-4 courts per section to cut down whistle congestion, and one thing i've found annoying is when stadiums have different backboard/ring systems on the show courts compared to others., keeping them all the same is a good idea.

[curious]

Viewable scoreboards from both ends and correctly posiitioned shot clocks.
Decent long lasting hot water for all teams.
Locker room heating.
As CC said high water faucets to fill bottles.
Ice machine available if required.
Massage tables available /associated with "elite level" games. Possibly ice "baths" as well.
More than adequate seating in locker rooms. Secure locker rooms. Places to hang after game wear for all players and coaching staff.
Affordable food and drinks. Not wanking over the toP pricing for all items.
Clear signage to find the venue and leave said venuse from all exits.
Lighting across all areas.
Disabled parking, ramps, toilets etc.
Bus parking.
Decent security in all areas. Both arena and external.
No Nazi parking officers.
Superior sound system for show court games.
After game sound should be equally as good for post game presentations etc.

[KRef]

Suggest dedicated refs room that has a toilet and shower-walls to the ceiling i.e unlike AIS arena where refs have to conduct pre game in whisper or listen to the loud comments at half time.
Some stadiums give officials the disabled toilet to change in or at one there is an expectation the refs will share with one of the teams dressing rooms.

[mball]

Completely separate all courts as per the Fishtank in Cairns Courts 2, 3 and 4. Not only to stop confusion with whistles and sirens but to stop wayward balls from other courts hitting the scorebench personnel!

[Loz]

The 3 court module suggested earlier works really well because it allows segmentation of activities - most important to achieve as high an occupancy as possible.

Make your show court flexible as well - one 2000 seat show court can take the footprint of three courts - so if you can utilise pull out seating, like knox, dandenong or MSAC.

But additionally allow for seating of 300 or so at the end courts of each of the other modules.

Have plenty of meeting rooms and at least one larger multi-purpose space which can be flexible enough to use for meeting rooms and other functions.

Be flexible with the change rooms - large ones aren't necessary for domestic comp so make them configurable to be used for senior rep games - lockable separate men and women - separate facility for referees.

Don't forget office space.

Canteen area shoulf be away from walkways - Knox gets very congested. Kilsyth has a great spacious foyer with plenty of space for people to sit at tables.

Hope that helps

[Homer]

Car parking to be "angle" parking and lanes to obviously be one way.
Large entry separated from exit to enable emergency evacuation if needed.
Like Loz said, separate kiosk area from walkways and have an "In' and "Out".
Have the kiosk with a minimum variation of stock. Self serve and proceed to the checkout.
Roll out seating on show court to utilize space when not in use.
Seating must have back support. Not like Dandenong or Knox.
Court and meeting rooms must be multi purpose to maximize use away from basketball.
Multiu purpose rooms to be hired by clubs or the public to maximize income return.

24 second clocks to be mounted on top of backboards with game clock like Knox.
24 second clocks and game clocks must be loud enough to hear over a vocal crowd and the
same right across the league to avoid confusion.
Backboards to be fitted with red lights for end of period. Like the NBA.
Referee's room to be lockable and fitted with a toilet and shower, not shared with players or public.
Definitely no "Accessible Toilets" to be used. These are for the use of disabled fans only.
Refs room to have use of a white board.
Refs room should be accessible away from public exits to avoid confrontations after the match.

I'll probably think of more in time.

[Haydenob]

I'm designing a basketball stadium for a Uni Assignment.

I have a fairly good idea of what I want. I'm from Melb and have been to most stadiums around Vic.

Its going to be fairly extravagant- 8 courts and a showcourt.

What I need help with is all the little things. From everyone's experiences, you would have seen something at a stadium that you really liked. So please share here.

This can be anything from how the carpark was designed, where to best put the scoreboards ect.?

Appreciate any feedback.


How big do you want the show court to be.
5,000 like the new KNOX stadium would be good, and then they also have 8 other courts. The plans for that development, sounds similar to yours so maybe you should try and have a look at what they are planning, it might give you some ideas.

[Daevo]

Referee's room to be lockable.
Preferably with the refs on the inside. I favour cages or stocks myself :p

[Da Houndawg #55]

Refs room should be accessible away from public exits to avoid confrontations after the match.

But with that goes all incentive for the refs to not suck...

[Coach D]

Ensure that there is a minimum of 2 metres around each court.
Plenty of space for coaches to stand.
Deep first seat for the bench to allow bags and players etc.
Spacious score benches that sit high enough to look around coaches.
Function facilities inc bar.
A proper coffee machine!!