Before Neil Davis became a successful architect, he was the manager of his high school basketball team. At 6-foot-3, Davis played high school football and had the size to play high school basketball.
"I was a tall person, but never the most coordinated," Davis said.
But passion for basketball and college sports has remained for Davis, who as president of Birmingham, Ala.,-based Davis Architects Inc. has overseen the design of the $64.5 million interior renovation that's due to be completed in mid-December.
The Davis firm has been involved in a number of prior projects at SEC venues, including recent renovations at Stegeman Coliseum in Georgia and Coleman Coliseum in Alabama. In addition, the firm was the associate architect of the recently-constructed Auburn Arena, which was built in 2009.
"The passion for sports carries through everything," Davis said. "We've done a number of sports projects. I guess I appreciate the athleticism and the whole concept of college athletes. That's a factor and I think just the whole being a part of creating a space that's is going to be used by thousands of people and try to make their experience greater, more meaningful and satisfying, it's a wonderful charge to have."
What excites Davis most about the project is the new grand entrance between Gates 1 and Gate 4 and 360-degree concourse that will add close to 13,000 square feet of additional space.
"It's going to be a whole different experience," Davis said. "For the fans especially, the whole sense of entry, before it was separated into four gate areas and never really had that feeling …
"For merchandising and concessions, it's a real open space. It can be well lit for concerts and events. It's multi-purpose for all of the different events you can have."
Davis said the renovation remains on schedule and the big next step for June is to start the precast seating bowl.
"The steel is going in smoothly," Davis said. "And it's interesting because now, with the seats demolished, it's the most open than it's ever been in its existence."
Of course, Florida fans are interested whether the combination of new seating and acoustics will result in the same loud, raucous atmosphere that makes the O'Dome one of the toughest basketball venues in the country for visiting teams.
"It's going to be very successful in that respect," Davis said. "Right now, in the past, most of the seating has been on movable platforms, retractable seating and it will now be, most of it will be fixed seating so it will be more comfortable, easier to navigate and then I think in terms of the game atmosphere, the sight lines you are able to get, the intimacy of the bowl, it's going to be wonderful.
"The students are going to be right there, part of the action. We design these things where the students will be opposite the TV cameras, because that gives them, enlivens the video broadcast. And I think it's going to be a great place to watch a basketball game, or gymnastics meet, or whatever. It's going to be intimate, loud, I think the homecourt advantage will be maintained."
Davis comes from a lineage of architects. His father, Charles F. Davis Jr., became a partner in the firm in 1946. His two siblings also are architects. The Davis firm recently celebrated its 100th birthday in 2012.
Growing up in a family of architects provided a constant source of inspiration.
"There's a sense of heritage and history, not just being his son and being a part of an organization that's over 100 years old, you look at projects differently," Davis said. "We're not building disposable buildings. We're building things that are going to be around longer than we are, so I think we take our work very seriously in that respect but also realize architecture can be fun. Nothing is more exciting to walk into a building and see it utilized as you envisioned and see people enjoy it."
Contact Kevin Brockway at 352-374-5054 or kevin.brockway@gvillesun.com. Also check out Brockway's blog at Gatorsports.com.
