23XI Racing Headquarters Earns Grand Jury Prize for Tilt-Up Excellence

23XI Racing’s Airspeed headquarters in Huntersville, North Carolina, has earned the Grand Jury Prize from the Tilt-Up Concrete Association (TCA), recognizing the precision, collaboration, and innovation behind the 114,000-SF facility. The project was also named a 2025 Tilt-Up Achievement Award winner, placing it among TCA’s highest-scoring projects for advancing the possibilities of tilt-up construction.

Built as the operational home of the NASCAR team co-owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, Airspeed combines approximately 67,000 SF of race shop space with 47,000 SF of Class A office and competition space. The facility opened in early 2024 and brings the team’s operations together in an environment designed around performance, visibility, and collaboration.

A Design Built Around 23XI

From the beginning, the building was designed to tell the 23XI story through its architecture. Windows and concrete panel reveals are set at precisely 23 degrees, while hand-painted graphics incorporate signature elephant print and speed-camo patterns. A two-story glass “jewel box” entrance provides views into the facility and creates a showcase for race-winning cars and trophies.

Inside, the details continue. Twenty-three paint colors drawn from the Jordan Brand palette complement an open layout that gives employees and visitors views into the different departments and race operations. The result is a headquarters that feels distinctly 23XI while supporting the highly technical work happening within it.

Precision Under Pressure

Delivering the design required equally precise construction. The project team completed the building in just over 10 months despite early site challenges that required the removal of more than 25,000 cubic yards of unsuitable soils. With occupancy required by the end of 2023 so race operations could begin January 1, the delays further compressed an already aggressive schedule.

The tilt-up scope presented its own complexities. Forty-six custom panels incorporated angled reveals, wood form liners, integrated storefront openings, and tight dimensional tolerances, with the largest panel weighing more than 136,000 pounds. Panels were cast and erected in phases to maintain the accelerated steel schedule, requiring close coordination among Choate, Williams Concrete Contracting, Merriman Schmitt Architects, and the project’s trade partners.

That combination of architectural ambition, constructability, and disciplined execution helped distinguish Airspeed among projects from across the tilt-up industry. TCA’s awards recognize projects that advance the use of site-cast tilt-up concrete through innovative building types, technologies, and solutions.