City of Houston
Houston Rockets / Downtown Arena
Houston, Texas

Architects: Morris Architects, HOK Sports Facilities Group, John Chase Architects

A new era in the history of the Houston Sports began with the voters approval of a new multi-purpose arena located in downtown Houston. The facility will serve as the future site of Houston Rockets and Comets games, other sporting events, family shows, concerts and public assembly.

Morris Architects, HOK Sports Facilities Group, and John Chase Architects designed the Houston Arena, which features a simple, yet sophisticated style and offer timeless appeal. Interior amenities will include 92 luxury suites, an estimated 2,800 club seats, and two spacious club seat lounges. The arena also will house a restaurant, which will offer traditional seated dining as well a unique ledge dining area with a spectacular view overlooking the playing floor. The Rockets and Comets business offices and practice facilities will move to the new arena upon its completion. With a budget of $175 million, the multi-purpose arena will be owned by the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority and operated by the Houston Rockets organization under the terms of a 30-year lease. The arena will be located in downtown Houston on a four-block site bounded by LaBranch, Jackson, Bell and Polk Streets.

Scheduled to open in September 2003, construction is planned to take approximately 25 months. The multi-purpose arena will accommodate an estimated 18,500 patrons for basketball, 17,800 for hockey and 19,300 for concerts. Designed to enhance the fan experience, the interior of the arena will offer easy accessibility through a street-level concourse and a sunken seating bowl located approximately thirty-two feet below grade. With approximately 62 percent of the arena's seating capacity located in the lower bowl, the state-of the-art facility will feature one of the largest, lower seating bowls in the nation. A seven-story parking garage, with 2,500 spaces, will be constructed on a two-block area south of the arena and will be connected to the arena by an enclosed skybridge.

Technology Challenge
Through a strategic alliance with Randall Technology Consulting, the Trilliant team was retained in the role of technology consultant to assess, design, specify, procure and manage the data, telecommunications, Point of Sale and Wireless systems to support the technology necessary in the new facility, as well as, the entrance facilities, infrastructure, equipment and services that support them.

Programming and Needs Assessment
The first phase of the project consisted of extensive meeting with the Houston rockets and the design team to establish the parameters and functional requirements for technology in the facility.

Also included was an audit of the existing systems currently being used by the Rockets organization and the Compaq Center. Other new sports facilities were toured, including Enron Field, to establish a benchmark for technology that should be included for the new arena.

Conceptual Design
After documenting the results of the needs assessment, a conceptual design of the required systems and infrastructure was produced, including budget estimates, projected installation schedules and best practice migration strategies. A standard part of Trilliant's Conceptual design phase is a formal "Request for Information" to potential vendors that supply the required technology systems. The "RFI" allows the Client to get preliminary budgets and insight into the newest technology offerings before moving into the detailed design phase.

Detailed Design and Specification
The Conceptual Design and the results of the "RFI" were then turned into a detailed design, which included detailed lists of systems and devices, AutoCAD drawings showing the locations of the devices and the necessary infrastructure to support those devices and equipment room layouts and locations to support the servers and other hardware to connect the devices. After approval from the Rockets, the final design was turned into a performance-based, manufacturer independent specification that will be used to procure the technology for the facility.

Procurement
The formal "Requests for Proposals" (RFP) bid packages for all specified technology systems, including schedule of work, bid instructions, technical specifications, support and training requirements, vendor references and company information. As part of the procurement services, Trilliant will:

" Hold bidders conferences and manage the bid process, including answering inquiries and issuing clarifications through an addenda process.
" Evaluate vendor responses, including a financial evaluation, technical evaluation, company viability evaluation and past performance evaluation.
" Assist in the preparation of a short list of finalists and the interviews of those finalists.
" Prepare a formal evaluation of the process and present a final recommendation.
" Represent our clients in contract negotiations with the chosen vendor, including issues such as initial price, ongoing maintenance and service levels, vendor conduct and delivery schedule, terms and penalties.

Project Management
After completion of the procurement and contract negotiations, Trilliant will provide detailed project management / construction management for the implementation of the technology systems into the arena. As part of our project management services, Trilliant will:
" Produce a project manual that will establish project procedures, schedule, lines of communication, codes of conduct
" Confirm that the construction schedule, vendor progress and the migration plan are in sync.
" Hold regular project status meetings with vendors and the construction team.
" Provide hands-on management of the installation of the systems and servicing; including field inspections for workmanship and vendor conduct, approving vendor payment requests, reviewing and approving vendor documentation of the completed systems, etc.

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