NASCAR Hall of Fame

Curving, sloped forms echo the sinuous shape of the racetrack and the essential quality of speed, which is at the heart of the NASCAR spectacle.

Beginning as a curved, sloping exterior wall enclosing the building, a free spanning ribbon twists over the main entry to form a welcoming canopy. The long, thin incisions in this metal skin are analogous to the blur of a car racing past the spectator at tremendous speed. A large glazed oval forms the Great Hall, the symbolic core of the Hall of Fame, and the primary visitor entrance. In this hall, a curved, banked ramp leads the visitor from the main floor to the exhibit levels above. The ramp contains a display of race cars frozen mid-race, once again capturing the speed and spectacle that is the essence of the sport.

SITE: Corner of Caldwell and Stonewall streets

COMPONENTS: Great Hall, visitor services including entry and exhibit space, Hall of Honor, broadcast studio 175,000 s/f Hall of Fame and Museum; 100,000 s/f ballroom; 425,000 s/f NASCAR Tower; 1,000-space parking garage

CLIENT: City of Charlotte; Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority; Charlotte Convention Center; Lauth Property Group; NASCAR

PCF&P SERVICES: Site planning, architecture; exterior envelope; interior design

SUSTAINABILITY: Designed for LEED Silver certification

AWARDS:

American Architecture Award
Chicago Athenaeum / European Centre, 2012

Design Award of Merit
Society of American Registered Architects, 2012

Ideas2 Awards: National Award
American Institute of Steel Construction, 2013

Best of 2010 Awards: Award of Excellence for Architectural Design
McGraw Hill, 2010

CISCA Construction Excellence Silver Award
Ceilings & Interior Systems Construction Association, 2010

Status: Built
Location: 400 East Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd; Charlotte, NC 28202
Firm Role: Architecture, exterior envelope, interior design of public spaces
Additional Credits: Associate Architect for Hall of Fame/ballroom/parking: Little Diversified Architectural Consulting, Charlotte, NC; Associate Architect for office tower: LS3P Associates Ltd., Charlotte, North Carolina; Site Observations Architect: Tobin Dudley Starr, Charlotte, NC; Structural: Leslie E. Roberston Associates, New York; Mechanical / Electrical / Plumbing: Jaros Baum & Bolles, New York, NY; Exhibit Design: Ralph Appelbaum Associates, Inc., New York; Images: Paul Warchol, Peter Brentlinger

Hall of Fame entry Drawing upon the technology of the world of NASCAR, the selection of material for the ribbon was inspired by the machined engineering involved in the shaping of raw sheet metal to form the body of the race car, fundamental to NASCAR race cars since the beginning of the sport.

NASCAR Hall of Fame plaza Featuring a unique 360-degree twist as it bridges over the main entry plaza, the ribbon, a sculptural abstraction of the speed and spectacle of NASCAR, provides a dramatic and welcoming canopy at the Hall of Fame entrance and gives the building its identity.

An important part of the overall design strategy was to locate NASCAR Plaza Tower on the northern edge of the site, poised toward the pedestrian traffic and energy of the downtown Charlotte city center. On the southern edge is the Plaza, a forecourt to the Hall of Fame. A broadcast studio enlivens this public space, serving as an origination point for a variety of radio and television broadcasts by NASCAR’s media partners.

Sections through Ribbon

“Glory Road” exhibit in Great Hall The Great Hall’s ramp contains a display of race cars frozen in a moment from a race, capturing in another way the speed and spectacle that is the essence of the sport.

Entry to Hall of Honor

Great Hall Within the Great Hall a signature element of a curved banked ramp leads the visitor from the main floor to the exhibit levels above.

Steel Cladding for 165’ Free Span Consisting of 165 individual prefabricated panels and more than 5,000 stainless steel “skin” panels, the ribbon takes the form of a mobius to create the building’s iconic element. As the cladding material, the stainless steel, in a lustrous angel-hair finish, softly reflects light and accentuates the duynamic aspect of the ribbon as its sculpted form changes around the building.

View into Great Hall Inspired by the dynamic quality of speed, captured in a second as a blur on film, the long, thin incisions in this metal skin are analogous to the blur of a car racing past the spectator at tremendous speed.