Nathaniel Hoffman

The Battlegrounds

By Nate Hoffmann Drexel Architecture Thesis 2019

The Industry:

Traditional Sports Multiplayer video games The Rise of the Internet were ubiquitous back in the day; kids would get together at the local park for a pick up game of baseball, basketball, or tag. This was THE way to play games with friends.

changed everything. It was no longer necessary to play outside, which suited some less athletic kids. Still, the best way to play was coming together for a “LAN Party�.

According to Forbes Magazine, E-Sports raked in almost $500 million in 2016 and is projected to exceed $1 billion before 2019.

changed everything once again. Not only are you able to play with friends (and strangers) online, many games have actually removed the local multiplayer option.

Unfortunately, the online culture can be caustic.

500%; up to an additional 700% with bonuses

1200%; 1600% for certain lots within Center City/University City FAR Map; up to an additional 800% with bonuses [2] See 14-701(5) (CMX-4 and CMX-5 Bulk and Massing Controls)

The Site: CMX-4

*Sky plane controls 14-701(5)(b) can add additional flexibility to these requirements

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CMX-5

*Sky plane controls 14-701(5)(b) can add additional flexibility to these requirements

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Max occupied area: 100% 90% if <5 stories or 1+ dwelling unit

1 Min. to Girard Ave. Station 5 Min. to Broad St. Station 8 Min. to 2nd & Market St. 18 Min. to Oregon Ave.

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13 Min. to 2nd & Market St. 29 Min. to Oregon Ave.

Market Frankford Line

Bi-Level Parking Garage

MFL

1 Min. to Girard Ave. Station 9 Min. to Broad St. Station 29 Min. to Oregon Ave.

Max occupied area: 100% 90% if <5 stories or 1+ dwelling unit

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Parking Lot

7 Min. to Girard Ave. Station 23 Min. to Broad St. Station 27 Min. to 2nd & Market St. 1 Hr. 28 Min. to Oregon Ave.

lot: 75%; corner lot 80%

ACME Markets, Starbucks, Wine & Spirits rm

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Side: 8’ max ; 5’ if <4 stories or <3 dwelling units

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Side: 8’ max ; 5’ if <4 stories or <3 dwelling units

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Mixed Single & Multi-Family Housing

Restaurants & Shops

Heavy Foot Traffic & Car Traffic

Rt. 15 Trolley

Proposed Site

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Others = 8 ft.

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Restaurants

The Piazza (Apartments)

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Precedent: North American LCS Location:

Program: Size: Capacity: Users:

12332 W Olympic Blvd, Santa Monica Los Angeles, CA 90064 Professional gaming arena + broadcast studio ~ 50,000 SF ~ 350 spectators + 10 pro teams Professional gamers, local spectators, global viewers (online stream)

Emphasis:

Facilitating the broadcast of a professional competition to a global streaming platform.

Spectating & gift shop focuses on the out-of-town visitor or local enthusiast.

Precedent: N3rd Street Gaming Location: 908 N 3rd St, Northern Liberties

Philadelphia, PA 19123 Program: Competitive gaming arena (PCs +

Consoles), makeshift streaming studio Size: ~4,000 SF Capacity: ~ 75 concurrent gamers

+ 20 spectators Users: Serious gamers of any age, mostly

teens & young adults Emphasis: In-person multiplayer gaming experience

for casual & competitive gamers of any level.

Thesis Question: What makes the experience of coming together to play and watch E-Sports in person superior to the experience of watching and gaming online? And can a professional sports stadium be sized to provide a local community a place to compete and grow together?

Initial Programming:

Programming Spreadsheet

Philly Gaming Arena Program Area

Comments from the Fall quarter review mostly focused on the lot coverage for my site. The square footages in the table to the right didn’t cover my entire site (as seen on the next page). It was suggested that I don’t give up this valuable land to future development, and instead expand my program to provide more space for my users.

Public Gaming Arena

Space

PC Gaming Floor Console Alcoves/ Rentable Spaces Mobile Gaming Café Offices Storage Restrooms

Broadcast Arena

Retail Shops

Max Occupancy Total Users

Competition Arena/Flex Space Stage

Size

Load Factor

Count Function

2 Gaming Floor 15 Gaming Floor Assembly without fixed seats 1 (Unconcentrated) tables & chairs 3 Business Areas 2 Storage 1

VIP/Player Lounge Team Rooms

1 Assembly with Fixed Seats 1 Stages & Platforms Assembly without fixed seats 1 (Unconcentrated) tables & chairs 2 Locker Rooms

Broadcast Engineering Room Production Control

Each

Total

20 gross

100

2,000 SF

4,000 SF

20 gross

10

200 SF

3,000 SF

15 net 100 gross 300 gross 50 gross Subtotals

50 750 2 200 1 300 15 750 163 Users

SF SF SF SF

1,200 600 600 750 10,150

8 gross 15 net

300 20

2,250 SF 300 SF

2,250 SF 300 SF

30 net 50 gross

20 5

600 SF 250 SF

600 SF 500 SF

1 Business 1 Business

100 gross 100 gross

2 2

200 SF 200 SF

200 SF 200 SF

Analyst Desk/Interview Room Secure Storage Server Room Restrooms

1 Business 1 1 1

100 gross n/a n/a 50 gross Subtotals

Game Store

1 Mercantile

30 gross

40

1,200 SF

Electronics/PC Shop

1 Mercantile Assembly without fixed seats 1 (Unconcentrated) tables & chairs

30 gross

40

1,200 SF

1,200 SF

130 3,900 SF 210 Users

3,900 SF 6,300 SF

Restaurant/Bar

30 gross Subtotals Total

5 500 n/a 200 n/a 200 15 750 354 Users

727 Users Systems Circulation

SF SF SF SF

500 200 200 750 5,700

Production Offices

Server Room & Storage

Analyst Desk/ Interview Room

Storage

Offices

Server Room & Storage

Restricted

Members Only

PC Gaming Floors

Competition Arena

Console Alcoves

Restrooms Public Restrooms

Retail

Lobby

Mobile Gaming Cafe

SF SF SF SF SF

1,200 SF

22,150 SF +20% +20%

31,896 SF

Server Room & Storage

SF SF SF SF SF

Fall Review Site/Area Plan:

ing ed ad trict e) o L es nc (R tra En

EN TE

R Restaurant

Restaurant Broadcast Support

Gaming Floor

Retail

ENTER

Gaming Floor

Outdoor Plaza

ENTER

R TE N E

Broadcast Offices

Retail

Broadcast Arena

Ground Floor

2nd Floor

3rd Floor 0'

25' 50'

100' N

Fall Review Concept Massing:

Revised Programming: Programming Spreadsheet Program Area Public Gaming Arena

Space

PC Gaming Floor Console Alcoves/ Rentable Spaces Mobile Gaming CafĂŠ Storage Restrooms

Broadcast Arena

Competition Arena/Flex Space Stage VIP/Player Lounge Team Rooms Broadcast Engineering Room Production Control Analyst Desk/Interview Room Secure Storage Server Room Restrooms

Retail Shops

Demo/Pro Shop Electronics/PC Shop Other Shops Restaurant/Bar

Count Function

Max Occupancy Total Load Factor Users

Size Each

Total

1 Gaming Floor

20 gross

150

-

10,000 SF

8 Gaming Floor Assembly without fixed seats 1 (Unconcentrated) tables & chairs 2 Storage 1

20 gross

8

750 SF

6,000 SF

1 Assembly with Fixed Seats 1 Stages & Platforms Assembly without fixed seats 1 (Unconcentrated) tables & chairs 2 Locker Rooms 1 Business 1 Business 1 Business 1 1 3

1 Mercantile 1 Mercantile 3 Mercantile Assembly without fixed seats 1 (Unconcentrated) tables & chairs

15 net 300 gross 50 gross Subtotals

8 gross 15 net 30 net 50 gross 100 gross 100 gross 100 gross n/a n/a 50 gross Subtotals

30 gross 30 gross 30 gross 30 gross Subtotals Total

50 N/A 20 228 Users

-

1,200 SF 1,000 SF 1,000 SF 19,200 SF

-

9,000 SF 3,000 SF

20 8 500 SF 8 12 5 n/a n/a 4 200 SF 427 Users

1,000 SF 1,000 SF 800 SF 1,200 SF 500 SF 200 SF 1,000 SF 600 SF 18,300 SF

350 20

40 40 40

1,200 SF

130 250 Users 905 Users Systems Circulation

-

2,000 SF 2,000 SF 3,600 SF 6,000 SF 13,600 SF 51,100 SF +20% +20%

73,584 SF

2nd

of my Fall review jurors, I expanded my programming to cover my

2

1

ee t Str

Taking the advice

2nd Street

Revised Site Coverage:

Girard Avenue

Fish Town

entire site, effectively doubling my building’s footprint. Besides providing more uses

Acme

for the community and making better use of the triangular site, covering the block allows Ge A wn to an rm

the building to have This was an opportunity

building.

American Street

no true “back” to the

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and a challenge, since

2nd Street

entrances on all sides.

it meant that there was

Parking Garage

The Piazza

Mechanical & Structural Systems: The structural system makes use of a round diagrid, long spanning trusses, and also some typical steel column, girder, and beam framing.

The HVAC system is a traditional forced air system but employs an in-floor plenum. Cooled air is pushed into plenum and conditions the occupied space. Warm air rises and returns through ceiling ducts.

Sustainable Systems: At 12,000 S.F., these solar panels can deliver up to 1,100 Wh per day on average.

With over 120 PCs running simultaneously, they can use up to 50,000W per hour.

Solar panels are a good first step, but not enough alone.

The new cooling technology called â&#x20AC;&#x153;immersion coolingâ&#x20AC;? (pictured on left) is used in high density data centers. This method of cooling eliminates the need for fans or other mechanical equipment to offset the head generated by the PCs and instead uses the same technique that our own bodies use. The passive evaporation of the 3M mineral oil cools the hot equipment, and the enclosed space allows the vapor to condense and return to liquid in the chamber.

This can cut cooling costs by up to 50% and allows for a more dense arrangement of stations.

Final Massing & Floor Plan:

Enlarged Floor Plan: Gaming Floor The Gaming Floor is the main program for the local neighborhood users. Gamers can walk in for a day of PC or console use or they can maintain a membership for returning multiple times per week. Gaming PCs are expensive, and this would give casual gamers more exposure to PC games without requiring an investment of over $1,500 for capable hardware. Besides the gaming stations, this area also has a small cafe so users can hang out and even play mobile phone games while making use of the built-in wireless charging tables.

Enlarged Floor Plan: Arena The Arena space will be capable of hosting large competitive events such as live E-Sports matches and other head-to-head exhibition matches. This space is fully equipped to seat roughly 400 spectators in the general seating area plus 8 VIP box seat balconies.

Displaying the ongoing match is the large panoramic screen, behind which is the broadcast studio. The broadcast studio allows for live to steaming platforms such as Twitch, YouTube, etc. When not being used for events, the hydraulic floor can be raised to provide a flat surface for other events, and the operable partitions can simultaneously open the space and close off the stage.

Lower Level

Upper Level

Enlarged Floor Plan: Retail The retail program is adjacent to Girard Avenue, a main artery in this neighborhood. General shops as well as gaming focused retail will be acompanied by an Xfinity Live! style restaurant in the Northwest corner that will show live E-Sports events around the world.