University of Notre Dame

Purcell Pavilion at Joyce Center

“The Fighting Irish Turn to Crawford”

To tackle the first major changes to the Joyce Center arena since 1968, home to the Fighting Irish men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball teams, the University of Notre Dame turned to Crawford Architects.

The $26.3 million project features a 60,000-square-foot addition with a new main entrance, club seating, and hospitality area and a new home for the ticket offices, and a new varsity shop for apparel and souvenir sales. Club Naimoli, which is located at the top of the seating area on the south side of the arena, provides a spacious and versatile hospitality area that can be used during basketball games and for private functions. To maximize revenue and usage opportunities, the Club Naimoli was oriented to allow for multi-sport and event use.

To create a cohesive interior environment and distinctive backdrop for TV, the existing seating was replaced with chair-back seating throughout the arena. The lower arena’s seating replacement was one-for-one with the exception of the bottom two rows, which were eliminated to accommodate new floor-level platforms.

CLIENT

University of Notre Dame

LOCATION

South Bend, IN

SIZE

60,000 square feet

CONSTRUCTION COST

$23M

AWARDS

LEED Gold Certified

EXPERTISE

Master Planning & Concept Design, Architecture, Interior Architecture, Brand Activation, Signage & Wayfinding, Stadiums & Arenas, Higher Education

“Constructed over two off-seasons, the finished product maintains the intimate environment that has provided a home-court advantage for Notre Dame since the facility first debuted.”