100 Word Description: The BB&T Ballpark is a new 10,000 seat ballpark in Uptown Charlotte for the Charlotte Knights Triple-A team. The ballpark is designed to fit into a tight urban site. The design intent is to incorporate the scale and use of brick and storefront currently represented by surrounding buildings and combine them with the painted exposed steel structure of the stadium. The stadium seating bowl is intentionally below the surrounding street level to open the stadium to inviting views from the street and sidewalk. The Ballpark was strategically placed to showcase views of the Uptown Charlotte skyline from the home plate.
Architect’s Statement: The BB&T BallPark is a new 10,000 seat ballpark in Uptown Charlotte for the Charlotte Knights Triple-A team. The stadium seating bowl is intentionally depressed below the surrounding street level to eliminate views of back-of-stadium bleachers. Pedestrians are provided with inviting views of the playing field from the street and sidewalk which allows the ballpark to visually integrate into the neighborhood. A 360°wrap-around main concourse encircling the playing field provides general access to all the seats in the seating bowl. The outfield concourse is a continuation of the main concourse, encircling the playing field and providing access to a variety of seating and viewing opportunities; i.e. grass seating berms, stepped dining terraces, party and picnic table decks, and standing drink rails. The ballpark is designed to fit into a tight urban site, surrounded by streets on all 4 sides. The tight fit results in a reduced right field (315’) and a shallower third base concourse which is designed for mobile food carts instead of traditional concessions. The field is strategically oriented to highlight the skyline view of Uptown Charlotte from home plate. The ballpark includes 22 private suites and a Stadium Club on the suite level, a Homeplate Club on the Concourse Level, and 2 “dugout suites” at the field level. The ballpark also includes a “Home Run Porch” in right field, a picnic terrace in left field, and outfield berm seating. The BB&T BallPark is designed to reflect the character and quality of the Third Ward Uptown Charlotte metropolitan area. The intent was to incorporate the scale and use of large brick units and storefront to complement the scale of the building and combine them with the painted exposed steel structure of the stadium.Design Elements: The ballpark is designed to provide for several additional and unique components that will address specific needs; provide for four-season use of the facility; or help make an evening at the ballpark a memorable and oft-repeated family favorite experience. Some of these design components include:• Home Plate Club: A fully-enclosed and air-conditioned glass room is provided at the top rows of the seating bowl, located behind home plate. The interior of the Home Plate Club will provide a terraced area, club chair and couch seating, bar and food service buffet tables, and a fixed bar.• Dugout Level Suites: Two dugout-level suites area provided below the seating bowl on the first base side and behind home plate. The dugout suites provide a unique view of the game from behind home plate. The suites will be fully air conditioned and outfitted with the similar furniture, fixtures, and equipment as are regular suites on the Suite Level.• Club Lounge: A Club Lounge is provided on the Suite Level. The Club Lounge will serve as the primary entry lobby for all suite patrons, with lounge seating furnishings and include a fixed bar and full-width and height glass exterior wall with views to the playing field and providing access to an extended outdoor seating balcony. The Club Lounge is intended to provide a year-round event space for approximately 250 people for other non-baseball events.• The Home Run Porch: The Home Run Porch is a two-level structure wrapping the right field corner of the ballpark, providing Concourse-level fixed seating and Suite-Level standing/viewing areas.• Stepped Dining Terrace: A Stepped Dining Terrace, accommodating up to 256 people, is provided in the left field corner of the ballpark. The dining terrace is an area of expanded concrete treads and risers descending towards the playing field from the outfield concourse, to facilitate picnic tables. A covered area is provided over food service buffet tables.• Centerfield Bench with Back Seating: An area of concrete treads and risers with continuous aluminum benches with back seating is provided in the left center field area.• Rooftop Deck: The rooftop beer garden features a rooftop terrace deck that provides another large group party area for the stadium.
Type of Construction: The Ballpark is designed to be LEED certified and is in the final stages of LEED certification. The design team took full advantage of the urban site which was in Uptown Charlotte, adjacent to the Stadium and within walking distance of plentiful office and stadium parking. This meant that no new parking spaces were needed to be built for the Ballpark. The building features an energy efficient building envelope combined with an innovative mix of HVAC systems designed to serve a variety of spaces such as locker rooms, offices, kitchens, club lounges, suites etc. The exterior façade is a combination of masonry and storefront on the first level and EIFS and storefront on the upper level. The EIFS systems are armored to resist the impacts of foul balls. The glazing on the East, South and West facades is low-e & low SHGC to limit heat gain. The glazing on the suites and clubs facing the fields was designed for maximum visible light transmission for game viewing; this necessitated a deep roof overhang to shade the glazing during a majority of the day. The use of LED lighting at the concourse is designed to reduce energy consumption during game-days. The Ballpark features a state of the art scoreboard display which is controlled by a fiber-optic network backbone designed for a plug-n-play broadcast through satellite trucks. The network supports a wireless point of sale system, a distributed sound system, digital broadcast and televisions, and wireless access for the spectators.
