Under Armour Global Headquarters

Overview

Challenge

Solution

Impact

Team

Under Armour's global headquarters is a net-zero carbon, net-zero energy campus that's as high-performing as the brand itself.

Location

Baltimore, Maryland

Client

Under Armor

Expertise

Build to Suit & Headquarters Climate Action & Sustainability Retail & Consumer Experience

Year

2024

Challenge

A brand built on winning needed a headquarters that reflected its values while serving as a workplace magnet for new and existing talent.

Under Armour was born in Baltimore, built on the conviction that performance has no ceiling. Its original headquarters no longer reflected that ambition, so the company needed a new home on Baltimore Peninsula — one that could galvanize its workforce, connect to the city it came from, and demonstrate a serious commitment to sustainability.

The stakes were high: get this right, and the building becomes a symbol for the tenacity and winning standards represented by the brand and the city.

Why this mattered

Under Armour needed a workplace that could attract and retain top talent — a campus designed around athletic culture, collaboration, and the well-being of the people it calls teammates.

Under Armour is a Baltimore company. The headquarters had to give back to the community — activating the waterfront, creating public destinations, and serving as a beacon for the Peninsula's revitalization.

Under Armour set aggressive sustainability targets from the start. The building had to achieve net-zero carbon and net-zero energy — not as a checkbox, but as a genuine expression of the brand's values.

This project is a significant investment for us, in our teammates, our community, and our enterprise. Being a Baltimore-based and founded company, we take a lot of pride in what we're doing here.

Solution

Mass timber was the turning point in the design. This key structural decision answered identity, sustainability, and culture at once.

Gensler designed the headquarters entirely in cross-laminated timber — a choice that answered every dimension of the challenge at once. Mass timber dramatically reduced the building’s embodied carbon, created the warm biophilic interiors Under Armour wanted for its teammates, and gave the campus a bold material identity.

From that structural decision, everything else followed: the net-zero energy systems, the LEED v4 Platinum strategy, and the distinctive façade that pulses with Baltimore’s game-day energy.

Side of Under Armour Building — Net-Zero Carbon Emissions

Front Entrance of Under Armour Retail — Net-Zero Energy Operations Targets (EUI of 0 vs. a Standard Building EUI of 65)

What changed because of this

01
Workplace experience
The mass timber structure, biophilic interiors, and athletic facilities create a workplace that gives teammates a compelling reason to come together every day.
02
Environmental performance
The headquarters achieves net-zero carbon and net-zero energy operations, with an EUI of 0, placing it in the top 1% of buildings nationally.
03
Community Impact
The campus on Baltimore Peninsula has become a public destination through its flagship brand store, outdoor spaces, and a façade that celebrates the city's sports teams.

From brief to build: how a net-zero carbon, LEED Platinum, mass timber headquarters gets built.

Designing a net-zero, mass timber headquarters at this scale required the design team to solve for sustainability, structural innovation, workplace culture, and civic identity simultaneously in parallel and integrated work streams.

The process was iterative so that key decisions could be tested against Under Armour’s performance targets and its brand values. Here’s a glimpse at the design thinking that took the project from an ambitious brief to one of the highest-performing buildings in the country.

1,500: Under Armour Team Mates
23.5: Acre Campus
287k: Square Feet
1,500: Under Armour Team Mates
23.5: Acre Campus
287k: Square Feet

Impact

A new standard for what a headquarters can do for its people, a city, and the planet.

Under Armour moved in ahead of schedule, with a campus that proves high performance and sustainability are the same goal.

Under Armour holds its products to an uncompromising standard. We took that seriously. The design had to meet the same high bar.

Recognition

Gensler Design Resilience Leader Katie Mesia joined the magazine's Deep Green podcast to discuss how large firms can shift culture at scale and the biggest opportunities for driving impact.

Gensler and Under Armour's vision for a thoughtful, sustainable new workplace on Baltimore Peninsula.

Team