As the New York Football Giants return to the Meadowlands from training camp in preparation for their final season at Giants Stadium, the team is shifting its daily focus to a new, state-of-the-art training center designed by a team of EwingCole architects and engineers.
The Timex Performance Center replaces team facilities inside Giants Stadium that served the team for several decades, and provides the Giants with advanced features that will help the team to achieve its goal to repeat their journey to the Super Bowl. Players, coaches and the team's administrative staff will call the facility their day-to-day business home, one that was specifically designed by EwingCole to reflect the Giants' steady, stable, and results-oriented approach.
"Our long relationship with the Giants helped us from the beginning in understanding the Giants' goals for their training facility, and how we could best help them achieve their vision," said Bob McConnell, EwingCole principal architect, and leader of the design effort. "The team wanted to expand what it could achieve in this new building. We listened carefully to their ideas, and worked cooperatively with them at every stage to develop what we believe is a facility that reflects the Giants' core values." McConnell noted that EwingCole was the executive architect and master planner for the Meadowlands Sports Complex including Giants Stadium, and is the architect and engineer of record for the New Meadowlands Stadium, which will become the Giants' and Jets' home beginning in 2010.
The Timex Performance Center project is the latest in EwingCole's global track record of successful architectural designs for stadiums, arenas and other athletic facilities, as part of its Sports and Entertainment practice. EwingCole was the architect and engineer for Citizens Bank Park for the World Champion Philadelphia Phillies baseball team, and has planned athletic facilities for Bucknell University, Monmouth University, the Kentucky Horse Park and more. From the design of racetracks in Singapore to the renovation of Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall, EwingCole has compiled a distinguished record in this key sector.
As designed by EwingCole, the Timex Performance Center provides the latest technology and training features for complete mind and body football training, providing a showcase for presenting team heraldry, history and team identity. Daily training workflow was a critical component in the overall facility design, and it pervades the look, feel and layout of the entire facility. Players, coaches and staff continually interact on a variety of daily training routines, from body training and workout, football equipment, video coaching and lecturing to nutrition.
The centrally-located locker room provides a direct connection for all of the players' activities: one entry connects the players to the football equipment area, the fields and indoor field house, a second entry point directs the players to team meeting rooms, weight training and dining. A third entry point provides access to physical training, hydrotherapy and player grooming facilities. The training area is equipped with plunge pools, hydrotherapy pools, training tables and exam rooms, meeting the Giants' needs of physical training/rehab. Team meeting rooms and the auditorium are outfitted with audio and visual training equipment for reviewing game film and developing game strategies. The indoor facility is specifically designed by EwingCole to allow the Giants to allow full-clearance punting drills. The facility also features three outdoor grass fields and a half-sized synthetic field.
"Performance training was a priority for all the football-related activities," said John Mara, president and chief executive officer of the Giants. "Creating spaces, program elements and infrastructure to allow the facility to accommodate the latest in training methods was an important design goal for us; EwingCole clearly understood our requirements and worked with us cooperatively to develop a facility that will meet our needs for years to come."
Mara noted that the facility already has taken an important step in preparing for the future. Off the Performance Center's main entrance is a curved walkway with a wall-sized mural reflecting the Giants' 2007 championship.
"I have been asked many times, but most recently this morning, how do I feel about our new facility?" said Giants head coach Tom Coughlin. "Everyday is Christmas, are you kidding me? Everyday is Christmas. Our players are excited to be here. The very first day we moved here, the players came in and started in the weight room. I think the players recognize probably five different aspects of the facility. One is their locker room. It is a magnificent, huge locker room. We have 80 players in there right now, but it seems that it handles the 80 very well. When we get to fifty-three and the practice squad, the players will have plenty of room to operate."
Coughlin described the new weight room as "second to none. It is a beautiful facility. It allows our players, all of us really, to condition and develop strength, to stay in the best possible condition that we can be in." He noted, "Performance obviously must be preceded by preparation. Preparation is the key to success and that is what we are all about."
SOURCE EwingCole
