text and photos by Scot Zimmerman
Basketball in Utah is big. The Jon M. and Karen Huntsman Basketball Facility is a recently completed training facility for University of Utah’s women’s and men’s basketball teams. I made the photos for Elliott Workgroup in Park City. The level of design and amenities reinforces the support these teams have from the University of Utah and the community.
A common entry leads inside the facility and the hallway bisects the men’s and women’s facilities. The entry introduces the graphic color scheme and logos for both the PAC 12 Conference and the Utes. Images of past sports figures appear in hanging banners.
At the end of the hall is the first view of the red-upholstered modular benches that spell out letters. Tricia Janes, an interior designer at Elliott Workgroup, designed these benches and inmates at the State Penitentiary produced them.
The doors to the rear of this space lead to the offices for the staff of the men’s teams, and the design broadens the transition area to accommodate a social space.
Similarly, a waiting rooms/social spaces marks the transitions to the offices for the women’s team’s staff.
A pre-game space allows for seating and refreshments.
Current players are featured in the photos along the wall to the left in the sports practice court (this is the men’s), and large photo reproductions loom to inspire the teams.
The technical challenge of photographing sports courts is related to how they are lit.Because the intent of the designs is to eliminate glare, there is relatively little natural light, and the natural light is uneven. Instead, the photographs have to address the temperature (colors) of the artificial light and to limit the reflections on the glossy surfaces.