OVO Athletic Centre

Fans of professional sports universally claim to know how best their team should acquire and trade talent, run plays, explain injuries, manage adversity. But the tools needed to achieve real success are not so simple.

A winning culture is built around complex social, physiological and financial modeling – around data management, biometrics, nutrition, conditioning, performance analytics, talent evaluation.

Maple Leaf Sports + Entertainment asked us to help design and build a stand-alone basketball training facility for the Toronto Raptors Basketball Club. We began by assessing a number of potential sites, determining which offered the right combination of qualities for physical, technical and human support to the franchise.

Collaborating with Guernsey, a US based firm, we worked closely with team management to refine needs, meet budgets, and consolidate resources – to create a state-of-the-art Canadian facility that would foster success. The project was completed in time for the Raptor’s spectacular playoff run in 2016.

At 6,800 square meters, the OVO Athletic Centre offers two NBA regulation size courts, one of which can be configured for use by the public during the off-season. Players, coaches, medical and fitness experts, trainers and food service specialists are gathered together – assembled as a family to a common purpose.

Among the numerous architectural challenges are hot, cold and treadmill water therapy pools, a resilient retractable wall to separate the courts as needed, a full service kitchen and private lake side dining terrace.

Interwoven throughout the project are visual interconnectivities and a robust digital backbone, providing powerful AV and data resources on demand to support the Raptor’s drive for excellence.

“The Centre is an important part of our vision. It is a development home for the team that will give us the tools we need to continue building on our progress as a franchise.” – Masai Ujiri, President and General Manager for the Toronto Raptors.