Inside Atlanta United Football Club’s kickin’ new training grounds

Professional soccer in Atlanta is off to a roaring start, with expansion-team underdogs Atlanta United currently in third place in Major League Soccer’s Eastern Conference. And now the team has a swanky, cutting-edge training facility that officials say will only help sustain that success.

Situated on 33 acres in Marietta, Atlanta United’s recently completed training ground and 30,000-square-foot headquarters has been described by veteran players as the league’s finest.

The complex features six full fields, a show pitch with 2,500 seats, deluxe first-team locker rooms with 22-foot ceilings, a full service kitchen with a balcony overlooking the field, and two sports science facilities with a double dose of hydrotherapy plunge pools.

The architecture and interiors are the work of Atlanta firm tvsdesign, which has been helping shape the city for nearly 50 years. Their portfolio includes the Georgia Aquarium, Georgia World Congress Center, the Omni, Georgia Dome, and the College Football Hall of Fame.

In a press release today, tvsdesign principal Mark Carter called Atlanta United’s new home “a world-class training facility that will give the players and staff the right environment to attract elite talent and support a growing youth soccer community and a winning club.”

Construction of The Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Training Ground, as it’s officially called, launched in February last year. With an emphasis on hospitality (this is the South, after all), interior multi-purpose areas will be used by the team, its youth academy, front office staff, and visitors, officials said.

Find the sparkling facility at 861 Franklin Gateway, between Interstate 75 and Dobbins Air Reserve Base.

Below, have a look around:

• Soccer comes to ATL: Atlanta United’s first match [Curbed]
• Tom Ventulett, Architect of ATL Icons: 'We Must Do Better' [Curbed]