Western University
Case Study
Western University
Custom Football Locker Room Design
The Western Mustangs are the most successful program in Canadian university football history, with eight Vanier Cup championships and more appearances in the national final than any other program. When Western undertook the university athletic facility renovation, the goal was straightforward: a custom football locker room built for 100 players that could handle the physical demands of a winning program for years.
It was the fourth locker room PROlocker had completed for Western, after previous installations for hockey, soccer, and volleyball. It was also the most technically demanding.
Project Overview
- 100 ProField MTL PRO215 custom football lockers
- Perimeter and back-to-back layout configuration
- Custom base modifications for existing concrete ledge
- Integrated electrical outlets within each unit
- Pre-drilled electrical access points manufactured before shipping
The Challenge
The building was not originally designed to house a traditional locker room. Three constraints required solutions before a single unit could be installed.
Concrete ledge along the perimeter: A ledge ran along the base of the walls exactly where lockers needed to mount. Standard bases could not sit flush, so we had to design around it.
Overhead pipe clearance: Pipes running across the ceiling left limited vertical clearance in sections of the room. Locker placement had to be sequenced precisely to achieve the required height throughout without compromising the installation.
Electrical integration: Western wanted power outlets inside each unit for players to be able to charge their devices. Getting that right required coordination between manufacturing, electrical, and installation, with every problem resolved before shipping rather than on site.
The Solution
Rather than recommending concrete removal, PROlocker modified the locker base design to fit the space exactly. Custom bases were fabricated to the ledge dimensions, allowing each unit to sit level and structurally sound without any site work.
For the electrical, the solution was designed at the manufacturing stage. Access points were pre-drilled into the lock box assemblies before the lockers shipped. When the university’s electricians arrived on site, the routing was already done. No field modifications, no delays between trades.
The overhead clearance sections were resolved through precise field measurement and careful sequencing of the installation. The final result achieved the required height throughout.
Custom Football Locker Room Design
“The challenge in these projects is fitting as many lockers as you can in the space,” Guillemette explains, “and football teams can be as rough on the lockers as they are on the field.” PROlocker specified the ProField MTL PRO215 for that reason. Built for the physical demands of football, it’s configured for individual use rather than the open communal layouts typical of hockey installations.
The football locker room layout used perimeter mounting along the walls and back-to-back rows down the centre, an arrangement that extracted exactly 100 units from the available footprint.
Football locker room design differs fundamentally from other sports. Where hockey lockers face inward toward the room for communal preparation, football lockers often face the wall. “For football, it’s not uncommon to have players facing their lockers,” Guillemette notes. “It’s more like a spot to collect yourself and get ready for the game.” Each unit includes lockable compartments for personal items and dedicated storage for pads and helmets, requirements that don’t apply in the same way to any other sport.
Electrical outlets were installed gang-style within the secured compartments, providing charging access without compromising the lockable storage configuration.
Results
The completed custom football locker installation accommodates the full 100-player roster with efficient traffic flow, organized equipment storage, and fully integrated electrical throughout. All three site constraints were resolved through manufacturing modifications rather than structural work, keeping the project on schedule and within budget.
Western has now worked with PROlocker across four different sport-specific locker room installations. Hockey, soccer, volleyball, and now football. Each brought different spatial requirements, different equipment demands, and a different player culture shaping the design. The ongoing relationship reflects consistent delivery across that range.