Photo: KENNY JOHNSON PHOTOGRAPHY
S
usan Fulton has played a key role for AECOM as a designer of major league and college arenas for more than 25 years.
Susan Fulton
AECOM | Senior Associate
Fulton has seen firsthand the evolution of arena development since the former Ellerbe Becket hired her in 1989, one year after the company formed its sports practice in Kansas City. Her résumé covers Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Madison Square Garden and TD Garden, among other projects. Fulton also was one of the principal designers of Time Warner Cable Arena, a venue that opened in Charlotte in 2005. Ten years later, she’s back to help the Charlotte Hornets take a fresh look at renovating the facility, starting with remodeling suites, the sit-down restaurant and event-level lounges.
“Times have changed, and the buildings have changed a lot,” Fulton said.
The arena boom of the 1990s produced multiple NBA facilities restricted to club seats and suites for their premium-seat inventory. Two decades later, as the market shifts, those premium offerings include smaller loge boxes and, in some instances, standing-room platforms tied to upscale food and drink offerings. Fulton is in the midst of those conversations with teams as they make decisions for what works best in their respective markets.
“It takes a lot of creativity these days and discussions with the client to understand what their market is,” she said. “It varies depending on who you’re talking to. The NBA still has a market for suites, but not like it was in the ’90s.”
The college space is a much different animal. Oregon and Ole Miss are two examples of schools building new arenas with no suites. Instead, it’s about developing a communal experience for the most part but still offering some upscale seating options. In Eugene, Fulton worked on Matthew Knight Arena, which opened in 2011. In Oxford, she’s wrapping up her work at The Pavilion, a 9,500-seat arena that opens in January.
“Architecture is definitely my first love,” Fulton said. “I have always enjoyed working on complex building types.”
— Don Muret
- Notable professional achievement: Completion of Time Warner Cable Arena in 2005.
- Biggest professional disappointment: When Time Warner Cable Arena failed the public referendum in 2001 during early design and the project was shelved. Approximately a year later, the project restarted.
- Best advice received: Believe in yourself.
- Woman in sports business I’d most like to meet: Billie Jean King.
- Most memorable sporting event attended: My son’s state high school soccer championship.
- If my colleagues were asked to describe me, they would say I: Have an even temperament and an attention to detail.
