The latest structure named in honor of a sports icon at Nike’s Oregon HQ, The Serena Williams Building is now the brand’s largest at 1,000,000 square feet.
As Nike continues to expand heading into its 50th anniversary this year, the iconic footwear and apparel brand officially unveiled the latest addition to its sprawling Beaverton, Oregon campus – The Serena Williams Building.
“When I was just a kid, I visited the Nike campus and I saw that athletes get buildings!” Williams captioned on Instagram. “After that visit, I knew I wanted two things: to be a Nike athlete and to have a building.”
Named after the undisputed tennis GOAT and two-decade-long Nike endorser, the new building sits on the north end of the campus, with a three-pronged design creating ample space for a variety of usages. The Serena Williams Building represents the first time Nike’s design, insights, and product merchandising teams are all housed in one office space.
There’s a combined 140,000 square feet of showrooms, workspaces, and color labs, along with the two-story, 140-seat Olympia Theater named after her daughter. There’s also an additional 200,000 square feet of wear test lab space where new ideas can be tested out and products and presented and merchandised in full collections.
More than 20% of the LEED Platinum-certified building is comprised of locally manufactured recycled content. A collection of 648 solar panels provide for an expected energy-cost saving of more than 40%, according to Nike.
Throughout all of the spaces, there are additional touches and details tying back to Serena. Her ‘SW’ logo can be found along the entryway, along with murals and artwork throughout the booth-lined cafeteria. Of course, tennis ball neon green accents can be found in lounges and throughout the building.
In addition to the corporate office spaces and ways in which the building can be utilized to continue fueling Nike’s product design and innovation quest, the gem of the grounds surrounding “The SW” is most certainly The East Compton Hills Country Club.
A full regulation tennis court with wooden bleachers for crowd viewing, the campus court name is a nod to Serena’s father Richard Williams’ nickname for the childhood public courts that she and sister Venus played on at Atlantic Avenue and Compton Boulevard.
“The whole building takes your breath away. Every element, everywhere you go, is an opportunity to be inspired,” added Williams. “I hope this building encourages people to bring out the best of themselves and to dream bigger than they thought possible.”
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