Georgia Tech Breaks Ground on High-Tech Athlete Performance Center

The Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) recently broke ground on a new athletic center for its campus in Atlanta, Ga., according to a news release. The Thomas A. Fanning Student-Athlete Performance Center will measure in at 100,000 square feet and include facilities for strength and conditioning, sports medicine, mental health services, nutrition, and meeting and office space. The Board of Regents approved the project in April 2022. The university is partnering with the S/L/A/M Collaborative (SLAM) for the project’s design and DPR Construction for its construction, the news release reports.

The Fanning Center will also feature the university’s first sports science lab. The lab will use pro-model motion tracking to collect student-athlete performance data, which will then funnel into an in-building data analytics office for analysis and performance tracking.


Image courtesy of SLAM

“It’s been incredibly special to have led the design for my alma mater, creating a new epicenter of athletics that is holistically dedicated to student-athletes’ success,” said Marc Clear, SLAM lead architect and principal. “The groundbreaking of the Thomas A. Fanning Student-Athlete Performance Center is an exciting milestone in creating this technology-rich home for GT Athletics.”

Sustainability features will include cross-laminated timber to provide warm accents throughout the facility; repurposed steel from the existing Bobby Dodd Stadium infrastructure; and energy-reduction strategies throughout the building.

”As the college athletics landscape evolves, we’re thrilled to start bringing Georgia Tech’s vision for student-athletes and its campus to life,” said DPR Construction project executive and Georgia Tech alum Brian Oliver. “We’re also proud that this project will help support opportunities for local workers in the skilled trades, many of whom feel personal connections with the campus and its athletic program.”

The Fanning Center is scheduled to open its doors in spring 2026, the news release reports.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Tennessee Middle School Completes Health, Life Safety Renovations

    The Giles County Board of Education in Pulaski, Tenn., recently announced that a series of renovation projects has been completed at Bridgeforth Middle School, according to a news release. The district partnered with Wold Architects & Engineers and Brindley Construction to modernize building systems at one of the district’s oldest schools.

  • FGCU Breaks Ground on New Health Sciences Building

    Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) has launched construction on a major new academic facility that leaders say will reshape healthcare education in Southwest Florida for decades to come, according to university news.

  • abstract illustration of school gym

    How the Gymnasium Can Serve as a Model for Learning Space Design

    Multipurpose gyms work because flexibility was built into the brief from the start, not retrofitted later. The same logic applies to academic spaces.

  • Ohio State University Opens 26-Story Hospital

    The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center recently opened in Columbus, Ohio, standing 26 stories and covering 1.9 million square feet, according to a university news release. The project marks ten years of effort and is the university’s largest single-facility construction project ever.