Nike celebrates 21/22 NBA season tip-off with opening of LeBron James Innovation Center
Olson Kundig designs LeBron James Innovation Center, named after the famous LA Lakers player, at Nike’s vast World Headquarters in Oregon, USA

Seattle-based architecture studio Olson Kundig made its reputation with exquisitely detailed private houses and cabins, often deeply embedded in the American landscape, with a strong, post-industrial aesthetic. The studio’s figureheads, Jim Olson and Tom Kundig, who lead the American architecture studio together with four other partners, usually work quasi-independently on different projects. The new LeBron James Innovation Center – named after the LA Lakers player – at Nike’s vast World Headquarters (WHQ) in Beaverton, Oregon, is one of Kundig’s, and features his trademark raw materiality, from its exposed concrete to the rusted metal finishes.
Kundig describes the project, located in the north-western corner of Nike’s vast 286-acre corporate site, as a ‘very complex feat of engineering’. Occupying 700,000 sq ft, the Innovation Center brings together Nike’s various innovation teams, previously scattered across the campus. It is here they’ll develop new lines, new materials, and new approaches.
The structure has been designed to minimise any vibration and noise that might affect the data being tracked by these internal labs. In addition to expansive design studios and meeting rooms, the centre also contains prototyping labs, a large indoor research hub, sporting facilities, and an outdoor running track built on a 15-degree incline.
‘Nike’s underlying agenda of fast’
Inside, the studios are arranged to look over a four-storey atrium, with a ribbon-like staircase that unites each level. The top floor is occupied by the Nike Sport Research Lab (NSRL), the large volume that cantilevers out over the main entrance. The lab area also contains a full-size basketball court.
‘The “big idea” behind this building is Nike’s underlying agenda of fast,’ says Kundig. ‘Athletics at all levels – and innovation in service of athletes – is about capturing speed, about going fast. The spiritual sense of the building reflects this functional basis as well as the poetic finish of fast.’ Environmental performance is also high on the agenda, with the building becoming the largest in the state to achieve the LEED Platinum rating from the US Green Building Council.
The rough finishes incorporate the visual signs of construction, with simple, elemental materials like concrete and steel paired with plywood for desks and storage. Kundig stresses the importance of material authenticity. ‘This building is designed to be functional, fast-moving, performance-based; we wanted to avoid anything too “precious” and instead selected materials for durability and strength,’ he says.
‘The building celebrates the raw performance of basic materials, much like athletics showcases the raw performance of the human form.’
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Basketball player LeBron James has been with Nike his entire career, signing a $90m contract with the company when he left high school in 2003. The LA Lakers player lends his name to many clothing and shoe lines for the company, and the new building celebrates this long partnership. It joins other structures on the corporate campus named after leading sportspeople, including John McEnroe, Seb Coe, Pete Sampras, Serena Williams, and Mia Hamm.
The centre also provides a good opportunity for bold sporting hypergraphics, including a visual representation of James’ shots on his journey to amassing 30,000 points, a ‘heat map’ of dots. ‘I’ve always felt the basis of architecture is function-driven with a poetic finish,’ Kundig says, and in this respect the LeBron James Innovation Center is an undeniable high scorer.
INFORMATION
nike.com
olsonkundig.com
Jonathan Bell has written for Wallpaper* magazine since 1999, covering everything from architecture and transport design to books, tech and graphic design. He is now the magazine’s Transport and Technology Editor. Jonathan has written and edited 15 books, including Concept Car Design, 21st Century House, and The New Modern House. He is also the host of Wallpaper’s first podcast.
-
Could reimagining play reshape childhood? 21st Europe argues for playgrounds as infrastructure
A new blueprint by think tank 21st Europe and Spacon calls for playgrounds to be treated as vital civic infrastructure – on par with museums, stations and energy grids
-
In Vietnam, Amanoi’s most indulgent residence yet is almost hidden on an East Sea clifftop
Aman’s ‘place of peace’ in Vietnam introduces the Amanoi Ocean Pool Residence, an architectural feat complete with its own private beach and spa
-
Yinka Ilori just teamed up with M.A.D. Editions on a trio of ultra-colourful watches
But hurry – you'll need to enter a raffle to score one for yourself
-
How LA's Terremoto brings 'historic architecture into its next era through revitalising the landscapes around them'
Terremoto, the Los Angeles and San Francisco collective landscape architecture studio, shakes up the industry through openness and design passion
-
Inside a Donald Wexler house so magical, its owner bought it twice
So transfixed was Daniel Patrick Giles, founder of fragrance brand Perfumehead, he's even created a special scent devoted to it
-
The Pagani Residences is the latest ultra-luxe automotive apartment tower to reach Miami
Rising up above Miami, branded apartment buildings are having a renaissance, as everyone from hypercar builders to crystal makers seeks to have a towering structure bearing their name
-
A modern cabin in Minnesota serves as a contemporary creative retreat from the city
Snow Kreilich Architects' modern cabin and studio for an artist on a lakeside plot in Minnesota was designed to spark creativity and provide a refuge from the rat race
-
Touring artist Glenn Ligon's studio in Brooklyn with its architect, Ravi Raj
Glenn Ligon's studio, designed by architect Ravi Raj, is an industrial Brooklyn space reimagined for contemporary art
-
A dynamic Mar Vista house plays with the rhythm of indoor and outdoor living
A new Mar Vista house, designed by Mexican architecture studio PPAA, combines a façade with a whisper of brutalism, and a breezy, open interior, seamlessly connected to its Los Angeles setting
-
This Michigan lakeside house is an exercise is sculptural minimalism
Explore a Michigan lakeside house, designed by Disbrow Iannuzzi and featuring sculptural timber interiors and a contemporary minimalist feel
-
Welcome to How House, a revived Rudolph Schindler gem in Los Angeles
The latest owner of How House, an early Rudolph Schindler gem, is taking a contemporary approach to conserving its heritage