Inside the design process of building NBA arena

Posted May 23, 2014

So, you want to build a new NBA arena? Lets make one giant assumption at the start: You have the cash in hand to get the project done (OK, a really giant assumption ). From there, where do you go? You need to find a suitable site and then come up with an interior plan that will make your team money and an exterior design that excites yourlocal community about your venue. While just a building, it is one youll spend millions on if not a full billion and designing in success takes time, research and a keen understanding of your city.

The Sacramento Kings find themselves squarely in the center of the design process. After presenting final plans to the Sacramento City Council on May 20, the Kings are now ready to begin pre-demolition this month and actual construction on theirbrand-new arena this fall. The team hopes to open the new arena in October 2016.

The Kings and global architectural firm AECOM the designers of more NBA arenas than anybody else (think Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Barclays Center and FedEx Forum) allowed SI.com access into the process. What follows is the anatomy of designing a NBA arena.

Before the sketches

Long before an architect can put a pencil to a napkin to draw out a sketch okay, so that isnt the common way, but it can still happen comes the research. And the effort to land the job.

Jon Niemuth, AECOMs director of sports, tells SI.com his firm worked with the Kings for six years before earning the official contract, busy with market analysis, relationship building and touring team officialssometimes a changing guard in the sports worldaround various venues.

I wish it was like buying a car where you show the options and pick one, but it does usually get more involved than that, he says. It is a pretty long-leaded kind of affair.

Once on board, finding a site proves the first major hurdle after establishing a funding framework. Is it a suburban site or an urban one? Can teams renovate an existing building? Does the client need help with land acquisition? Those previous six years of market research help answer those questions, especially the ones coming from local politicians.

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Inside the design process of building NBA arena