Kansas City area sports design firms Populous and Henderson Engineers have partnered with the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) to help develop official physical build guidelines for varsity esports spaces.
Populous has already developed a set of guidelines together with NACE, meanwhile, Henderson Engineers will help to expand them further.
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Michael Brooks, Executive Director of NACE, Kevin Butler, Esports Practice Leader at Henderson Engineers, and Marvin Mastin, Brand Activation Manager at Populous are all members of the advisory board for the Kansas City Sports Commission & Foundation. The organisation was formed earlier this year to develop esports in the greater Kansas City area.
Brooks commented on the partnership in a release: “Collegiate esports is still relatively new, but the growth has been rapid in a few short years. As the largest varsity association in North America, we want to make sure this growth continues and a large part of that is in the creation of guides and resources for membership.
“Much of the growth we’ve seen so far in institutional adoption of esports has been fueled by the data provided to us by our member institutions with the intent to make that data actionable by institutions who have an active esports program and those wishing to explore it. The great work done by our partners here has taken that data to the next level with true professional expertise.”
The physical build guidelines developed by Populous and expanded by Henderson include tiered templates for the build-out of collegiate esports spaces. This covers architecture, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, technology systems, and computer peripherals.
Mastin added: “Populous has enjoyed collaborating with NACE and Henderson Engineers to establish a benchmark of standards and guidelines that constitutes a solid template to successfully build an esports facility and program. As interest has exponentially grown in esports among the student population at universities and colleges, this document provides the perfect resource to hit the ground running.”
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NACE has recognised Populous as the preferred architectural designer and Henderson as the preferred mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and technology designer. Esport Supply, a System Target company, who serves as the association’s official technology partner, outlined the computer and peripheral options in the document. Like Populous and Henderson, Esport Supply is headquartered in the Kansas City area.
Butler commented: “Henderson Engineers was excited to expand on the original document created by Populous to support this emerging market and new population of student-athletes. It has been a pleasure to collaborate with NACE and Populous and showcase the design talent and knowledge in Kansas City by developing these holistic design guidelines for esports spaces.”
Esports Insider says: Between the formation of Kansas City Esports Coalition, NACE, and Esports Arena’s expansion to the area, Missouri stands to benefit from the income, tourism, and opportunity that esports can bring. When engineers get involved to outline building plans, you know something exciting will come to the city for esports fans and varsity teams alike.