Firm raises the roof at LIU's Brooklyn sports center.

Thornton-Tomasetti announced the completion of the $27 million Long Island University Recreation and Wellness Center in Brooklyn.

Located on the Long Island University downtown Brooklyn Campus, the center will serve as a sports and recreational facility for the students, campus and community. Thornton-Tomasetti engineers played an integral role in the facility's unique design and completion whose doors opened this winter.

Thornton-Tomasetti is a 500-person international engineering and design firm that creates structures to support the world's tallest buildings and long-span sports and entertainment centers.

The multi-purpose Long Island University Recreation and Wellness Center features modern lines, sleek glass exteriors, and separate entrances for students and the general public. The street-level lobby overlooks the basement fitness center and Olympic-size natatorium through large glass windows. The second-floor, 3,000 seat arena contains retractable bleachers and three basketball courts, and the street-level floor will accommodate community events, concerts, and trade shows. Hospitality spaces along the north side of the center overlook the basketball courts and the university's outdoor soccer fields. Overlooking the campus are rooftop tennis courts.

In conjunction with renowned architecture firm Arquitectonica, Thornton-Tomasetti engineers identified and addressed potential vibration issues within the 110,000 sq. ft. facility as a function of the long-span structures extending over the pool during the planning phases.

"The design employs long-span trusses to support both the roof and the second floor, and both surfaces will be used for athletic activities," said project manager Steve Pacitto of Thornton-Tomasetti.

"It's one thing to support a roof or a floor that will have relatively stable, static loads, but we will have thousands of foot-stomping fans, cheerleaders and basketball players on the second floor and tennis players on the roof. That presented quite a challenge." To confront that challenge, Thornton-Tomasetti performed a dynamic analysis on the structure to determine areas of vibration within the structure and to provide various types of structural solutions. Through this education process the facility owner and others were better able to understand the effects aerobic activities may have on structures.