On a crisp, early autumn day, I approached the new LeBron James Innovation Center at Nike’s headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon. Soon enough, I’d be sweating.

Four and a half years in the making, the 750,000-square-foot center marks the first time that Nike has ever combined apparel, shoe design, and athlete analysis all under one roof. That means designers work in the same building as biomechanics researchers; Latest Jordan 2020 and shirts are developed in the same place where Nike tests athletes to understand the intricacies of human movement and performance. That testing takes place on the building’s fourth floor—a wild, tech-filled gymnasium known as the Nike Sport Research Lab. It’s a place built not only for testing elite athletes like James: Nike plans for 85% of those tested to be everyday people who can help the company better understand how every body moves. (You can actually apply to be a subject here.)

Nike first signed James back in 2003, before he was even drafted, and re-upped the contract in 2010. An extension in 2015 was a lifetime deal—believed to be the first that Nike had ever signed—valued at a reported $1 billion. As of 2015, revenue from James’ shoe line had topped $350 million. 

As for James’ namesake new building, that was designed by the celebrated architect Tom Kundig, who is known for his lofty steel, glass, and concrete buildings, Yeezy Release Date 2021 grounded in rugged materials—like timber and metals—which are meant to age gracefully over time. (In this case, Kundig repurposed over 21,000 pounds of ground up Nike shoes—aka Nike Grind—to source the building’s carpets.

I spent a day at the secretive LeBron James Innovation Center last month, allowed in before most of Nike’s own employees. Upstairs at the Lab, I’d had my body scanned from head to toe, and I did everything from jogging to kicking soccer balls at digital targets to get a portrait of my performance. And I can confirm that Nike’s scientists know what they’re talking about: In a two-minute test, they spotted the exact weaknesses that have me in physical therapy!

“We say, In this place, the price of admission is data,” says Matt Nurse, VP of the Nike Explore Team Sport Research Lab. What do you get in return? A better understanding of your own body, and hopefully, a fleet of Nike products that are better for everyone.

Here are the eight most amazing sights inside the center.

A LAB THAT DOESN’T FEEL LIKE A LAB

Let’s start from the top. The Nike Sport Research Lab (NSRL) is the world’s most advanced human performance lab, according to Nike. It’s five times Buy Cheap Yeezy 350  larger than Nike’s former NSRL, which is especially impressive, because this lab is one giant room. When COVID restrictions end, Nike plans to test thousands of athletes here each year.

This 85,000-square-foot space houses a full-size basketball court, a 100-meter sprinting track (with one lane for concrete, to simulate city running), a 200-meter running track, and a soccer pitch. (The pitch features a large screen, which can move a target for you to kick at, measuring accuracy.)

Every sport you play is completely trackable. There are 400 motion-capture cameras surrounding this room, and 97 force plates are hidden in the court, track, and pitch to precisely measure how hard you step or cut. But the idea is that you never feel like you’re in a lab. The top-floor space is filled with windows, and no one is wearing lab coats. 

“We wanted the place to inspire you to move,” says Nurse. “If you walk in, and it’s lab coats, and you feel like you’re going to get researched, that’s a bummer. It doesn’t feel welcoming; you feel like you’re going to be poked and prodded. It’s still science, and we still have to be Buy Jordan 2021  objective—but we talk about athletes, and we do take the time to actually reach out and check their experience. We quantify and judge ourselves on the experience of how athletes come through because without them sharing their data with us, and trusting us, and going on that journey with us, it’s really hard for us to do what we do.”

THE WORLD’S FANCIEST WAFFLE HOUSE

Rumor has it that employees inside Nike started referring to the LeBron James Innovation Center as the “Waffle House” before Nike discouraged that. But take a look at the building, and it’s easy to see why. As you approach, you can see that the massive concrete overhang is patterned just like a waffle.

But there’s an important function to this form. That’s the subfloor of the aforementioned research lab. According to Nike, most of the world’s performance labs are in the ground level or basement because sensitive pressure sensors can err when influenced by the Buy Yeezy Online  dynamic movements of a building. Kundig’s team solved that by building a subfloor with this specific waffle geometry (an air gap and another floor sit on top of it). 

The waffled concrete has one more layer of symbolic significance. Nike cofounder Bill Bowerman built the first pair of Nikes by pressing rubber in a waffle iron, and the company still sells Waffle shoes today. Nike calls the waffle pattern on the building an act of “serendipity.”

A RAMP ALL THE WAY TO THE ROOF

On the building’s right side, you’ll see what looks like a giant staircase all the way to the top. But look closer, and you’ll see those aren’t stairs. It’s a four-story ramp that you can run all the way to the building’s rooftop.

Extending more than 500 feet, its 15.63% incline is built to allow athletes to train for hilly terrain on a campus with no natural hills. I ran out of time to take it on myself, but the plant-covered summit is a pleasant place to have lunch, even when you’re not training.