Jervey Gym Renovation/Watt Family Performance and Wellness Center

Clemson University

Clemson’s Jervey Gym Renovation and Watt Family Athletic Performance and Wellness Center project is a state-of-the-art new home for the Volleyball, Sports Medicine, and Strength and Conditioning programs. Garvin Design Group partnered with national sports architecture firm HNTB to design this facility based on the research and conceptual design developed in the Jervey Performance and Wellness Center Feasibility Study. This project involves the selective renovation of Jervey Athletic Center, the complete renovation of Jervey Gym, and the ambitious new construction of the Watt Family Athletic Performance and Wellness Center at the corner of Perimeter Road and Track Drive. Together, these projects form a dynamic and forward-focused complex to keep Clemson at the forefront of collegiate athletics.

The new three-story Performance and Wellness Center building houses the Strength & Conditioning Center, Wellness & Recovery Space, Hydrotherapy & Recovery Pools, Sports Medicine Clinic, Gatorade Fuel Bar and Sports Nutrition Services, and Bistro & Outdoor Dining Terrace. The building cascades from the edge of Jervey Gym toward Track Drive, negotiating a significant grade change to support internal connections and a shared lobby with Jervey Gym. The east elevation of the new building is angled, responding to the curve of Perimeter Road and creating additional length along the south façade to accommodate a 40-yard dash on the mezzanine level. Structural columns support this suspended space to create a covered walkway along the building’s south elevation. Expansive glass curtain walls wrap around the east and south elevations, framed by a dynamic, angled soffit and perforated aluminum scrim element. Student-athletes enter the facility from Track Drive to the south through a Zen-like outdoor courtyard, enhancing the wellness theme of the facility.  A new two-story lobby off Perimeter Road acts as the primary gameday entrance for volleyball fans and gives a prominent identity to the Clemson Volleyball program.

Selective renovation of Jervey Athletic Center’s ground level creates a new Volleyball Suite that includes a team meeting room, lounge and nutrition spaces, locker room, and film room. A new “hype tunnel” provides direct access from the Volleyball Suite to the competition space inside the renovated Jervey Gym. The roof of Jervey Gym is raised 12 feet to improve functionality as the competition space for Clemson Volleyball, exceeding the NCAA minimum height standards. New bleacher seating, audio systems, light fixtures, scoreboard, video board, and elevated Premium Ace’s Club also enhance the Volleyball fan experience.  Patterned cementitious cladding gives the renovated Jervey Gym a dynamic new public face.

Garvin Design Group teamed with national sports architecture firm HNTB and Thompson Turner to help Clemson design this ambitious campus development.