Nationals Ballpark

November/December 2007

A Home for the Nationals Pastime

New Washington Nationals Ballpark pushing toward spring 2008 finish

By Debra Wood

HOK Sport of Kansas City, Mo., and Devrouax & Purnell Architects of Washington, D.C., designed the new Nationals ballpark so fans can sit closer to the action.

Crews are entering the final innings of construction on the $631-million Nationals Park, readying the ball field for the Washington Nationals Major League Baseball team on opening day of the 2008 season in April.

“So far, we are hitting all our marks,” says Matt Haas, project executive with Clark/Hunt/Smoot, A Joint Venture. “It’s going to be a first-rate facility when we’re done.”

Design-build partners Clark Construction Group LLC, Bethesda, Md., Hunt Construction Group, Indianapolis, and The Sherman R. Smoot Corp., Washington, D.C., broke ground on the 1-million-sq-ft project on May 4, 2006. In December, the District of Columbia Sports and Entertainment Commission, owner of the ballpark, increased the scope to include two precast concrete parking garages, which will hold 1,200 cars.

The city capped its investment at $611 million, including land acquisition. The team is contributing $20 million toward the stadium.

HOK Sport, Kansas City, Mo., and Devrouax & Purnell Architects, Washington, D.C., designed the 41,000-seat stadium, which features two levels of suites, an outfield restaurant and two membership-only dining clubs with upscale finishes.

Crews set rebar on a poured-in-place deck on the lower ballpark level.

“We see this as a new-era ballpark,” says Pat Tangen, project manager for HOK. “The design is not retro. It’s much more modern, and that is a departure from a lot of the architecture we have done before.”

Plans for the new ballpark helped clinch a team for the District, enticing the former Montreal Expos to relocate. The team has played at RFK Memorial Stadium since moving to Washington in 2005. The commission located the stadium along the banks of the Anacostia River, a mile south of the U.S. Capitol, hoping it will anchor a new mixed-use entertainment district to re-energize a neglected part of the city.

“It was important we choose a location that would benefit fans and also serve as a revitalization for economic development,” says Gregory O’Dell, chief executive officer of the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission. “During construction, we have seen a ramp-up in development activity around the stadium.”

Forest City Washington has started construction on a 42-acre, $1.7-billion mixed-use project called The Yards. When finished, it will contain 1.8 million sq ft of office space, 300,000 sq ft of retail space and 2,800 apartment and residential condominium units.

The District of Columbia Housing Authority received a $35-million federal grant to revitalize the Arthur Capper/ Carrollsburg public housing complex. Work has begun to replace 707 public housing units and add 525 affordable rental units and 330 market-rate townhomes for purchase, for a total of 1,562 new units. The project will add 600,000 sq ft of office space with 20,000 sq ft to 40,000 sq ft of retail on the ground floor.

A Fast Build

Committed to starting the 2008 season in the new ballpark, the sports commission sped construction by ordering steel from the mill before it had inked a deal with Clark/Hunt/Smoot. The commission then coordinated with the joint venture to inherit the steel contract.

“That saved us a lot. We guaranteed the manufacturing,” says Philip Artin, senior vice president with program manager McKissack and McKissack, Washington, D.C.

Other companies on the program management team include locally based Brailsford & Dunleavy and the Washington office of Turner Construction Co.

The stadium's upper levels consist of structural steel and precast seating.

On behalf of the client, McKissack worked with Major League Baseball, then solicited and managed the selection of the architectural-engineering team. It managed the design using the program negotiated with MLB as a basis. The program management team advised on a project delivery method and managed the selection process of the construction manager.

“We led the value-engineering process and arrived at an agreeable GMP budget for the project,” Artin says. “We then advised the client to merge the AE team’s contract with the CM contract and turn the project-delivery method to a fast-track, design-build, cost-guarantee method.”

The team will manage the process through completion of the ballpark until occupancy by the Nationals. Artin considers the schedule the most challenging aspect of construction.

The schedule required excavation and other work to begin before final designs were in place. Crews removed 300,000 cu yd of dirt and began placing 2,600 concrete piles. Poured-in-place concrete forms the first two ballpark levels. Steel, used for the upper levels, topped out in July.

In August, crews were installing 2,000 seats per week. Haas says work on the seats should wrap up by year’s end. In October, crews installed the scoreboard HDTV modules, continued to install field-level seats, removed the tower crane and made progress on interior drywall and painting.

“Now our main focus is getting the building watertight,” Haas says. “Many areas are open to the elements on purpose, but there are also some high-finish areas with custom millwork and carpet that we need to get finished up.”

Work continues on field excavation to install a deep-drainage system made up of an impermeable liner and layers of sand and soil below the sod. Six-in. and 12-in. pipes direct the water from the stadium through a filtration system and off the site. Rainwater and any small debris discarded by fans will be filtered to protect aquatic wildlife in the nearby river. Haas says crews will lay the turf in November so it will have time to grow roots before the playing season begins.

The building sits within 20 ft of South Capitol Street, a main thoroughfare. People walking by the ballpark will view a tree-lined streetscape and see into the seating bowl. The glass, with thin mullions, also allows daylight into the stadium.

“There’s a play between solid and void in the skin of the building, which is in reverence to the monumental city,” Tangen says. “And it has the streetscape Washington is known for.”

The stadium, like the city, features outstanding architecture and open spaces. From the upper levels, people can see the Washington Monument, the Capitol and the waterfront. Precast concrete, resembling stonework, clads most of the building.

The design blends elements symbolic of the city's monuments and streetscapes. People will be able to view the Washington Monument and the Capitol from the upper ballpark levels.

“The building has a monumental facade,” O’Dell says. “The exterior precast, metal panel and glass curtain wall are consistent with what you would see in the District.”

A 40-ft canopy cantilevers over a portion of the upper seating levels, providing shade and calling attention to the ballpark from various locations in the city.

“It’s designed as an air foil and will be pretty iconic in the D.C. landscape,” Tangen says. “It wants to be light and not massive. The other thing is, we have to live within the height restrictions of Washington.” No building in the district can be taller than the Washington Monument.

HOK designed the playing field to be a “pitcher’s park.” The outfield has an irregular shape, and “it’s a deeper park than some newer parks,” Tangen says. “The team wanted to keep the ball in play, so there would be many more doubles and triples [rather] than all home runs. The geometry of the field is undulating and changing all the time.”

The outfield fences are 335 ft at the right field foul line, 226 ft in left field, 370 ft in the right/center power alley, 377 ft in the left/center power alley and 403 ft in center field. At its deepest, the field is 409 ft. The fences and power alleys are deeper than those in many parks but not the deepest in the league.

More than half of the seats are located in the lower bowl, putting fans as near the action as possible. The upper decks are shallow, again keeping people closer to the game. Wheelchair-accessible seating is available on all levels. HOK met with officials at the Justice Dept. to ensure the stadium not only met the letter of accessibility laws but also their intent.

“This will be a very user-friendly ballpark,” Tangen says. “It’s a new design and a new image for baseball stadiums in America, and I think it’s one that will become the new thing.”

Green Features

The sports commission expects Nationals Park to become the first LEED-certified professional sports complex. “It’s the right thing to do,” O’Dell says. “We wanted an environmentally conscious building.”

To begin with, the sports commission selected a brownfield site one block from a Metro station. The design-build team used recycled products, including crushed glass for backfill.

Pervious asphalt in the parking lot, light-colored materials and a green concession-area roof, planted with drought-resistant vegetation, decrease heat gain. Low-flow plumbing fixtures should save 3.6 million gallons of water each year.

High-efficiency field lighting will reduce energy consumption by 21% compared to a typical field. Interior materials will emit low levels of volatile organic compounds, and Clark/Hunt/Smoot is recycling construction waste.

As part of the construction contract, Clark/Hunt/Smooth agreed that at least half of the subcontractor firms would be local, small disadvantaged business enterprises. In addition, 51% of the new hires would be District of Columbia residents. By early fall, the team was meeting both goals, with 52% LSDBE participation and 55% of new hires hailing from the District.

About 800 craftspeople worked daily onsite during the summer, and Haas expects the number to peak at less than 1,000.

“We’re not done yet,” O’Dell says. “It’s been a lot of hard work, and we’re targeted to finish by opening day.