Seattle welcomes a new basketball performance center that won't just be a "world-class facility" but a space to support, foster, and train female professional athletes. Four-time WNBA champions, the Seattle Storm, celebrated an important milestone as their 50,000-square-foot Seattle Storm Center for Basketball Performance broke ground on Monday, March 27.

While it's said to "be the first facility of its kind in the United States," what makes this endeavor even more notable is that its project team is 85% female-led, across five firms and practices specializing in architecture, landscape architecture, construction, and real estate.

Participating design team ZGF Architects shared: "The goal was to build a world-class facility for world-class female athletes — with women-led teams who are experts in their field." ZGF is accompanied by Shive-Hattery Architects as the project's co-design team leads, Sellen Construction, landscape architecture and urban design practice Walker Macy, and barrientos RYAN as the owner’s representative.

The state-of-the-art center will be located in Seattle's Interbay neighborhood and will include two basketball courts, strength and conditioning spaces, the "Storm Team Center" accompanied by locker rooms, a lounge, and a nutrition center for the players. The facility will also house the Storm's business offices and spaces dedicated to physical therapy and diagnostics to maintain the players' health and conditioning. In addition, the design and engineering teams aim to achieve LEED Gold certification by including all-electric features and a solar-powered rooftop.

"Our goal is to reset expectations for what female professional athletes and, more broadly, all girls and women deserve: Space for themselves," shared Lisa Brummel, Co-Owner of the Seattle Storm. "Here, girls and women will not be after-thoughts, not even the main storyline, but the entire story."

The project is set to be completed before the 2024 WNBA season, in time for the team's training camp.