Baseball Performance Center
University of Maryland College Park

The University of Maryland (UMD), College Park, lacked a permanent structure for its baseball team to use for indoor practice during the off-season, instead using a temporary bubble structure to fill the gap.  

Two previous design teams had worked on the project, but neither team moved past a schematic design level. UMD needed a design team that could combine both schematics and create a cost-effective solution that would also match the aesthetic of the adjacent varsity sports team house. 

In collaboration with design-build partner J. Vinton Schaefer (JVS), JMT Architecture merged both pre-existing schematic drawings to create a new structure for the university’s athletics program. JVS’s constructability reviews identified potential impacts to the site due to the utility design for the structure, allowing JMT Architecture to address these impacts and design a constructable and cost-effective facility.

The design team also drew on JMT’s broader expertise. During the permit review process, the team received comments that required calculations showing stormwater piping underneath the facility, which fell outside of the scope of services provided by the engineering team on the project. However, the team brought in experts from JMT’s water/wastewater group to provide the required calculations and avoid delays.

JMT Architecture’s design provides three player practice areas: two pitching lanes with pitching mounds, three hitting lanes, and a plyometric warm-up area. The 6,925 GSF facility also includes state-of-the-art performance analytics technology with data feeds for wall-mounted displays. Externally, the facility’s façade references the adjacent varsity sports team house, with red brick and a buff-colored water table. Black recessed soldier course panels and translucent exterior wall panels break up the elevations and allow natural light into the space.

The new facility provides a functional and pleasant space to support the university’s athletic programs and recruitment efforts.