by Heather Livingston
Contributing Editor

Summary: Less than a year after assuming residence in their new training facility, the University of Minnesota Women’s Crew team has earned its first Big Ten title. Designed by HGA Architects and Engineers in Minneapolis, the 17,600-square-foot University Boathouse opened in May, placing the team directly on the Mississippi River and providing year-round training facilities.

Collaboration and consensus
Located below the University of Minnesota bluff and on the Mississippi shoreline, this elegantly simple building is located on a complicated site. “It’s built on Minneapolis City parkland, below the university, so our local park board was involved,” explains Loren Ahles, FAIA, principal, HGA. In addition, the university, the City of Minneapolis, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were involved because of its location on the waterway, so it took time to align the various interests. “A lot of collaboration was required for this project, which took less than a year to construct once we reached a point of consensus,” Ahles recalls. “Everyone’s primary concerns were what the structure would look like, how big it would be, and how it would affect the site. The park board was especially concerned that the boathouse not be a solid, over-imposing, monolithic building.”

The women’s rowing team was created in 2000 as part of the Title IX balance of scholarships for varsity athletics at the university, according to Ahles. “The women’s crew has been in existence for about seven years and they spent the first six—up until spring of this year—in a tent on the Mississippi River, so they were waiting for this boathouse,” he says. Prior to construction of the University Boathouse, the team had no access to indoor training facilities, including locker rooms. Besides being provided the practice tent, they were equipped only with portable restrooms. What’s more, during those six years, the team could only train from spring to fall when the Mississippi was warm enough. Now, they practice year-round in their personal, state-of-the-art training facility. Plus, says Coach Wendy Davis, “When we come off the water in February and March, we are warm one minute later instead of 30 minutes later.”

From portable toilets to a custom tank room
The new boathouse, in addition to providing locker rooms with hot showers, has three boat storage bays, a repair bay, spacious training facilities, laundry rooms, and coaches’ offices. At the base of the facility, the boat bays generate the rational, rectangular plan and accommodate the 70-foot-long shells at water level. A center bay contains lobbies, circulation, and system spaces on both levels. The boathouse is visually and structurally separated between levels. For strength and durability, the lower boat bays are enclosed by masonry bearing walls and extruded concrete planking. The upper level areas are spanned by decking on laminated wood beams spaced 10 feet apart.

Training and team spaces are located above the concrete base. The boathouse rowing room is the center of endurance and weight training during the winter, providing open floor space for 30 ergometers [a.k.a, “rowing machines”]. Views to the river were thoughtfully framed from the vantage of a rowing-machine occupant. The team’s innovative indoor rowing tank was designed to maximize land-based training during the winter months. The elliptical moving water tank, with custom-designed oar stations, allows 12 rowers to simulate on-the-river boat training. The windows of the tank room capture views of the Minneapolis skyline, lit by the morning sun.

With its new home, the University of Minnesota’s Women’s Crew team is now a lot more competitive in the field. Since the boathouse has immediate access to the Mississippi River and sits directly across from the crew racecourse, the team can now host invitational meets. But the greatest asset is having the opportunity to train year-round in the beautiful, serene boathouse designed just for the women’s team. “We have the best ranking we’ve ever had, and I know we wouldn’t be ranked that highly without the boathouse,” enthuses Coach Davis.