Front of the Condron Family Ballpark at the University of Florida.

University of Florida Condron Family Ballpark

Proven design and construction experience drives vision to victory.

Project Facts

Location Gainesville, Florida
Owner University of Florida
Size 270,000 SF
Cost $55.5 million
Status Completed 2020
Capacity 7,000 seats
Certifications Green Globes Certification

Overview

When The University of Florida athletics department called on us to help boost their player and spectator experiences we answered with a streamlined process that translated the owner’s vision of a gothic-style exposed steel stadium into reality. 

View of exposed, gothic-style steel at entrance canopy

View of stadium exterior from above

View of seating bowl from within

1 / 1

Challenges

Design Integration

Working in collaboration with University designers, Populous, and Walker Architects, the college envisioned a collegiate, gothic-style park that reflected a campus-wide aesthetic. They desired to express the concept with as much structural steel as possible, especially in the seating bowl, scoreboard, and canopy, which was purpose-designed to maximize shade and fan comfort.

Construction Budget

Aligning the owner’s design vision with the construction budget proved a critical but time-consuming task that posed potential risks to the project timeline, which remained firm even with the extra time required in design.

Aerial view of the new ballpark

Solutions

Digital Collaboration

Our structural and construction engineering teams leveraged our collaborative, digital process ConnecTID to prepare the steel fabrication model concurrent with the structural design, which allowed sharing a single model between multiple contractors.

Timely Steel

The advanced steel fabrication (LOD400) model detailed steel connections and material quantities with clarity and precision, enabling the mill order model to be given to the fabricator on the same day the project was awarded.

View of the ballpark from the outfield

View of the stadium bowl with covered seating

View of the covered seating designed to maximize fan comfort

1 / 1

Results

Precision Saves Costs

An accurate steel order, with precise quantities and connections, was placed at a total cost savings of $800,000 and arrived at the job site weeks ahead of schedule, allowing the project to be completed on time.

Streamlining Communication

Using traditional delivery methods, projects of this size typically require hundreds of requests for information (RFIs). However, our proprietary ConnecTID process, eliminated RFIs on the steel package completely, an amazing result that cannot be understated.