MULLETT ARENA

Arizona, USA

The scorching Sonoran Desert Region in North America is unsurprisingly not known as a hotbed for ice sports. However, the hockey program at Arizona State University (ASU) has been breaking that mold for years, progressing from an intramural club team to an NCAA Division 1 contender. The university rightfully ventured to build a state-of-the-art multipurpose facility to match its profile as a competitor at the highest level of American collegiate sports. An all-star design and construction team was assembled to realize that vision including Henderson Engineers, a national building systems design firm with offices in Phoenix, a stone’s throw away from ASU’s main campus in Tempe, Arizona.

Enter Mullett Arena, a 5,000-seat, 210,750 square-foot venue that opened in October 2022 to great fanfare. At the heart of the $134 million facility are two ice rinks, one of which caters to ASU hockey main events and public gatherings such as concerts and trade shows and is designed to meet both NCAA and professional hockey standards. The second ice sheet serves as a multifunctional community/training space for hosting practices, youth sports, figure skating, and other community-oriented programs. The Henderson-designed heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system at the facility is central to maintaining ideal temperature, humidity, and dew point to sustain excellent ice quality no matter the conditions outdoors.

“ASU was committed to having one of the best ice sheets within collegiate sports and beyond. Poor indoor conditions related to temperature, air distribution, humidity levels, and water quality have a direct impact on the quality of the ice sheet and its ability to perform under the heavy usage and fast-paced play of collegiate and professional Hockey. So, providing a high-quality HVAC system is one of the most important decisions you can make when building a hockey arena,” explained Kelly Hyde, Henderson’s sports practice director who served as project manager for Mullett Arena.

“We’ve worked on numerous ASU athletic projects throughout the years including their newly renovated Sun Devil football stadium, football student athletic facility, football indoor practice facility, men’ and women’s basketball practice facility, and their fitness complexes at both their Polytechnic Campus as well as their West Campus. This puts our team of experts in this field at an advantage because we understand what it takes to deliver to ASU’s high standards.”

Given the energy intensive process of maintaining ice rinks, Henderson looked to minimise environmental impact by equipping Mullett Arena with intuitive control systems that allow facility operators to adjust energy consumption based on power needs at a given time. This efficiency approach was in alignment with ASU’s sustainability requirements, which stipulate designing toward LEED Silver benchmarks at minimum.

Beyond top notch ice, the fan experience is front and center at the venue. A social deck, club lounge, premium club seats, two group suites, and 20 luxury suites are among the amenities spread across the building’s three floors. Such factors were undoubtedly under consideration when the Arizona Coyotes NHL team signed a lease to use Mullett Arena as their interim home base in mid-2022 after departing their former arena. The move has resonated with spectators, who have flocked to Coyotes events and helped sell out every home game so far during the 2022-2023 NHL season. “Mullett Arena is a flagship project not just for hockey at ASU, but for ice sports throughout the Southwestern United States,” said Hyde. “It will not only attract high level athletes but new fans too, which was top of mind for us through every step of the design process. The Coyotes choosing to bring their talents to the venue is a major stamp of approval for the quality that was delivered by the entire design and construction team.”

Henderson’s full scope of building systems design services included acoustical consulting, electrical, fire and life safety, mechanical, plumbing, security, and sustainability design and engineering. Other key players included Mortenson Development, Inc. as the design-builder, Mortenson as the general contractor, SCI as the architect, and Dibble Engineering as the civil engineer.