The University of Texas at Austin Moody Center Basketball and Events Arena

The University of Texas at Austin Moody Center Basketball and Events Arena, “Moody Center,” creates an immersive experience from the moment fans arrive at the interactive plaza until they get to their seats. The 15,000- seat facility replaces the 42-year-old Frank Erwin Center as the home for Texas Men’s and Women’s basketball and serves as a major entertainment venue for the Austin community. Designed to create stimulating urban spaces, the arena integrates sports facilities with current and future UT development. A new game day plaza ties together the university’s athletic facilities, and acts as a gathering space for fans, the public, and athletes. Engagement drives the design, blending indoor/outdoor spaces together into a cohesive, brand-forward experience. The arena dares to be different, without stealing the focus from other UT athletic buildings, by respecting the campus materiality and introducing a modern approach to systems and details.

Moody Center is designed as a uniquely Austin venue, one that is open and welcoming to everyone. The arena is fully encircled with windows, showcasing the excitement of a game or show, as well as reinforcing the connection to campus, capitol view corridor, and the city. On arrival at the main outdoor plaza, visitors see through the glass entry atrium to the basketball court. The roof’s soffit is a vibrant wood-clad canopy that reaches out over the plaza, turning downward in a sweeping curve to become the interior walls of the arena, creating a striking impression as a symbolic gesture to come on in.

The event experience within the arena bowl is tailored to create an equitable and optimized fan experience, regardless of the ticket price. An operable scrim system allows the 15,000-seat concert venue to be quickly transformed to 10,000 seats for dedicated sporting events like basketball and volleyball. Affordable seats are on the upper concourse and enjoy 360 views out to the city through an uninterrupted glass curtainwall. The upper concourse accesses a shaded terrace with magnificent views of the State Capitol building and the downtown skyline. 20 sideline suites and loge boxes accommodating 57 guests cater to a more premium game day experience. An additional 24 porch suite are also located on the baselines and corners to give premium guests a closer and more connected feel, all of which are oriented to look directly onto the stage for concert events.

Specialty themed clubs located on 2 levels give attendees a unique way to customize their event experience. The Indeed Club and Dell Technologies Club each accommodate 450 guests along the sidelines with music club and Hill County vibes respectively, while the speakeasy-inspired Germania Insurance Club supports another 450 fans on the floor level next to the player entry tunnel. The Moet & Chandon Imperial Club offers the ultimate in personal concert-going experiences as a “super-suite” for 75 guests located directly on axis to center stage for concerts.

Each level is open and inviting, with spacious lobbies, outdoor terraces, and local food and beverage vendors. Multiple indoor and outdoor spaces are dispersed throughout the arena for fans to hang out before, during, and after events. The warm and textural material palette of the market-style concessions and murals by local artists create inviting beacons that are “authentically Austin” to explore along the concourses.