SSR established ourselves as a leader in the sports and entertainment market with engineering design work on projects for the Nashville Predators, Houston Rockets, and Orlando Magic. Year after year, we’ve continued to reinforce our reputation for engineering excellence and evolve our approach to serving our clients’ needs with new technologies and design processes.  From stadiums and arenas to practice facilities and performance venues, we attribute this continued success to two primary factors that we bring to every project: the ability to listen and collaborate with stakeholders and the drive to execute and deliver for our clients.

 

Stop, Collaborate and Listen

Every project is unique for us, and we want to deliver an elevated level of service that begins with a deep dive into the client’s overall goals and aspirations for the project to be successful. We understand the need to step outside the engineering box to fully engage with our clients, design and construction team, and the ownership group to intently listen to what success is going to look like for this project. This engagement forms the foundation of a truly collaborative environment; without the desire to listen and consider alternate ideas, thoughts, and perspectives, collaboration is just a goal, not a reality.

At SSR, we want that collaboration to build a true partnership with the entire team as an invested stakeholder in the project’s success.  Often, identifying the project’s true critical success factors is a complex puzzle involving budget, schedule, aesthetics, and sustainability/efficiency goals, among others. The team must work collectively to see where these items are in conflict and collaborate to proactively identify solutions.

From there, we identify what the full team is hoping to achieve from an engineering — mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, and sustainability — perspective. We use the identified critical success factors as a true north to ensure that all decisions are in support of the project’s overall goals. In our experience, the system design is better when it is the result of collective ideas and efforts of all stakeholders and design team members.

 

Deliver

Once the ideas and concepts are considered, studied, and fully vetted, decisions must be made, and then it is time to execute and deliver.

We have delivered many projects successfully.  For 2024 Super Bowl host Allegiant Stadium, the owner wanted an exceptionally clean exterior envelop and façade for the stadium in the desert known as “The Death Star.”  Knowing this was a critical success factor for the design team, we looked for many ways that the mechanical systems would not detract from the overall appearance of the stadium. Understanding this early in concept design, we integrated the mechanical louvers in such a way that they were hidden in the exterior and could not be easily seen.

For another project, adhering to a tight schedule was the primary goal, including only 16 weeks to deliver permit documents for a 2 million square foot venue. Over the course of the expedited project, we had 48 colleagues from six offices work on the venue’s design. We projected for the work and knew that we had the resources to deliver; SSR was not going to be the consultant holding up the schedule when we knew that was a critical success factor for the owner and all major stakeholders.

We have also dedicated internal resources for sustainability and energy efficiency. These colleagues are passionate about sustainability and really focus on facilitating sustainable outcomes for projects that integrate in conjunction with architectural elements. They excel at identifying cost, return on investment (ROI), and life cycle impacts of sustainable building concepts to meet a project’s schedule, quality, and budget requirements.

For SSR to continue to be a leader in sports and entertainment design, we understand that we must approach every project with fresh eyes, seeking to understand the projects unique critical success factors, and identifying ways that our team can deliver in a way that enhances the owner’s vision for a successful project.