Another design driver for the center was to give girls and women the security to experiment and the freedom to learn and to practice greatness. With a streamlined program that eliminates corridors and dedicates every inch of space to the needs of players, this facility delivers on form and function. Adjacencies in the building are focused on player flow and getting people where they need to be quickly and efficiently. The elimination of all corridors resulted in larger program spaces overall to better support the players. These larger footprints for program areas provide multiple benefits, from greater visibility for coaches and trainers to improved safety and a better sense of connectedness and focus amongst the team.

The player spaces and everything needed to support their entire day are housed on the first floor, with coaches’ offices on the upper level. The player level includes the practice courts, locker rooms, athletic training and performance areas, strength and conditioning rooms, recovery spaces such as the hydrotherapy pool, sauna, steam room, and kitchen and dining spaces.

The new BECU Storm Center resets expectations for what female professional athletes and, more broadly, all girls and women deserve – a space where they are not the afterthoughts, not even the main character, but the entire story. Upon entry into the public lobby, staff, patrons, business partners, and community members are greeted with branded art and graphics that highlight The Storm’s competitive ethos. The team’s four championship trophies are on display in glass casings. Descending from the split-level entry, guests find a stadium stair designed with reclaimed panels from the team’s championship court flooring.

It was of the utmost importance to provide girls and women the safety to move through physical space without being objectified. The building will feature separate public and player entrances; a private parking lot dedicated to players will provide safety as players can park and enter their own lounge without being on display. The public will enter at an interstitial level into a lobby and be escorted up or down as needed to meet players and staff.

Driven by a Pacific Northwest aesthetic, the interior draws inspiration from the mountains and forests of the surrounding Washington landscape. A concrete wall on the far side of the interior courts boasts a floor-to-ceiling mural of the iconic Seattle skyline accented with landmarks including the iconic Space Needle and the BECU Court, where home games are played. Silhouettes of the state of Washington’s mountain ranges, including Mount Rainier are stained into the concrete wall and outlined in the team’s “Storm Green” which forms a backdrop for the court graphics, encompassing the space on all four walls.