Six years after moving its men’s ice hockey team from a club sport to NCAA Division 1 status, Arizona State University is committed to challenging some of the sport’s traditional cold-weather powers. The latest milestone in the program’s rapid growth will come when the Sun Devils take the ice for the 2022-23 season at a new on-campus arena.

On track for completion this fall, the $113-million, 185,000-sq-ft facility will feature a 5,000-seat multipurpose venue equipped with a regulation National Hockey League ice sheet, with the arena floor adaptable to host ASU’s wrestling and women’s gymnastics programs as well as concerts and other events. Features include a 24-ft by 24-ft suspended scoreboard and upper-level social deck in the main arena, multiple locker rooms, a 9,000-sq-ft suite for ASU players and coaches’ offices and a second full-size “community” ice sheet for club leagues, open skating and other activities.

More than 4,000 cu yd of concrete and 192 tons on rebar were used for the facility’s foundation and two ice sheets.
Photo courtesy of Mortenson Construction

“This is hockey at all levels,” says ASU senior associate athletics director/CFO Frank Ferrara, noting that the sport’s explosion in popularity in metro Phoenix ranges from youth leagues to the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes, which will play home games at the ASU facility for at least the next three years while awaiting completion of the team’s own arena.

“It’s not only a great addition to our own program,” Ferrara adds, “but also a way to engage with our students and the community.”

作为ASU新的Novus Innovation Corridor的锚点，这是一项占地330英亩的公私综合用途开发项目，将与附近Tempe Town Lake沿线的校园融为一体，冰曲棍球设施采用了创新的资金和项目交付方法。独特的开发设计模型包括Mortenson Construction，Sci Architects和OVG设施，该设施将根据30年的公私合作伙伴（P3）协议运营和维护该设施。

费拉拉解释说：“并非所有分区冰球计划都赚了足够的钱来完成这样的设施。”“ OVG将带来吸引非冰球收入的专业知识。”

主舞台提供了各种各样的座位也ns, from suites to a dedicated section for students at one end.
Photo courtesy of Mortenson Construction

Shaping a Strategy

The excitement ASU hopes to generate at its hockey games in the coming years contrasts with the COVID-driven environment of lockdowns and travel restrictions that isolated project team members as design got underway in early 2020. “The whole design came together on Zoom calls,” recalls Mortenson project executive Ben Spencer. Meeting ASU’s schedule and program goals under those unusual circumstances, he adds, “was a big test of what is possible in the virtual world.”

The design considerations were many, as the university needed to balance its ambitions for the program with cost, schedule and constructibility realities. Tone Frisina, project executive at SCI Architects, explains that from an architectural standpoint, the arena’s 5,000-seat capacity is the “sweet spot” for a college hockey program and a manageable step up from the 800-seat community rink where ASU has been playing home games for most of the last decade.

“You can create a great atmosphere with an energetic crowd, yet not worry about empty seats,” Frisina explains. “It also positions ASU to potentially host NCAA post-season regional championships.”

设计概念还努力为所有粉丝提供一些东西，从主竞技场的开放马蹄形端的专用900个座位的学生区到赛场侧面的20多个套房，仅在冰上方29英尺的位置。弗里西娜说：“这是一个非常亲密，非常亲密的环境。”

这些在线讨论还确定了预先介绍的金属建筑（PEMB）结构是最佳结构类型。

Spencer说：“尽管您通常在制造或仓库设施中看到PEMB，但我们能够使其适应曲棍球竞技场，同时仍达到相同的成本和计划效率。”

在2020年末将这些设计过渡到建筑之前，该团队必须作为垃圾填埋场的旧生活，其中包括大量含石棉的材料，例如屋顶和位于地面下方几英尺的屋顶和干墙。莫滕森（Mortenson）并没有面对高达7英尺深的广泛地点挖掘，并用相等数量的昂贵填充物代替了它，而是邀请了一架配备15吨重量的起重机，以在120,000平方英尺的建筑范围内进行深层动态压实。

Spencer says more than 10,000 50-ft weight drops were needed to push the earth and asbestos layer three ft deeper than its original position.

他说：“我们从来不必打扰石棉，但我们能够安全地将其安全地搬到建筑物的基础和地下MEP系统下。”

With the site issues resolved, the PEMB’s 150 3.5-ft-dia caissons were driven up to 26 ft deep, allowing vertical construction to begin in earnest in February 2021. Erected by Mesa, Ariz., PEMB contractor Fleming West Building Co., the 16,000-piece structure totals 855 tons of structural steel and 2-in.-thick insulated metal wall panels.

A preengineered metal building design helped speed construction and control costs.
Photo courtesy of Mortenson Construction

Energy Conservation

To ensure that Tempe’s high outdoor temperatures don’t affect the quality of the arena ice, all transitions between panels, windows and building systems were precisely detailed to conserve energy and prevent air and water infiltration. A large-scale mock-up allowed the team to test materials, sealants and installation methods before implementing them at the project site.

Spencer also credits block scheduling for keeping construction on schedule in metro Phoenix’s extremely busy building market amid pervasive supply chain issues.

“The increased transparency of our schedule and visibility of key dates allowed our trade partners to make early commitments of their resources and time, then secure the right materials to abide by that schedule,” he says.

凯森（Caisson）安装开始后仅54周，建筑物的屋顶被封闭，为放置两个冰盖的混凝土板奠定了基础。使用设计用于减少裂纹的专业混合物，将每个315厘米的平板放在一个连续的倒入中以防止冷接头。

弗里森（Frisina）指出，莫滕森（Mortenson）的虚拟设计功能通过促进贸易伙伴参与来创建完全设计和协调的MEP模型，从而为加急过程做出了贡献。这有助于快速进行时间表，并确保符合ASU对所有新建建筑的LEED银认证的要求。

“It’s been an incredible asset,” he says.

Among the key elements of the building’s energy-efficiency strategy are two large rooftop energy-recovery wheels that pre-condition air entering the ventilation system. Along with reducing energy needs for interior cooling and humidity control systems, the recovery units help keep the ice floor at an optimal range of 58 to 60 degrees. A computational fluid dynamics model optimized building air flow patterns and ensured that systems are correctly placed and energy efficient.

“Without them, hot air would already be inside the building, and the cooling systems would be constantly trying to reduce the temperature,” Frisina says. “This is a huge win for longevity of the building equipment.”

The hockey facility is located within a mixed-use development zone that will integrate Arizona State University’s athletic facilities with office, retail, entertainment and hospitality space.
SCI建筑师提供

Avoiding Overtime

Although a project goal was emulating an NHL-level playing environment as much as possible, the opportunity for ASU’s facility to double as an interim home for the NHL’s Coyotes required some in-progress design adjustments that were integrated into the existing construction timeline.

审查过程从2021年的最后一周开始，发生了变化，例如将冷地板管道的间距从3.5英寸缩小到3英寸，以维持NHL质量的冰。一个310吨的氨冷藏系统，带有三个往复式压缩机以及铅和滞后泵，将提供升级的流速，以保持沿两个溜冰场的冰。

Other upgrades that will be implemented as the building’s interior work is completed include camera technology for tracking players during games using advanced analytics as well as adding camera and media positions for radio and TV broadcasts. A separate 15,000-sq-ft addition is being constructed adjacent to the original facility to serve as NHL home and away locker rooms and team support space.

Funded by the Coyotes, these facilities and other additions will provide ASU with an even more advanced facility than envisioned when the project began.
“We know there are a lot of eyes on us from non-traditional ice hockey markets,” Ferrara says. “We’re showing that our approach can work and be a revenue generator. For ASU, there’s a big emotional bond that makes this project very special.”