Nike’s New Serena Williams Building Is ‘Like a City’

One of Nike’s most successful athlete-partners ever now has the largest office building on its Oregon campus named for her.

On Wednesday, the sportswear giant officially opened the Serena Williams Building (SW) at Nike World Headquarters.

Designed by Portland-based architecture firm Skylab, SW covers 1 million square feet — the equivalent of 140 full-size tennis courts — 200,000 of which is committed to lab space, and 140,000 of which is committed to showrooms and work space.

It features the East Compton Hills Country Club Tennis Court — named for a Williams family joke — four cafes named for the Grand Slams, 23 columns for her major titles, and the Olympia Theater, which is named after Williams’ daughter.

The new establishment was designed to be eco-friendly: The LEED Platinum-certified facility is made up of more than 20% recycled materials, outfitted with 648 solar panels, and designed to reduce stormwater run-off and source pollution.

“The whole building takes your breath away,” Williams said. “I hope this building encourages people to bring out the best of themselves and to dream bigger than they thought possible.”