Home Bowling Alley Design Guide

Introduction

The fact that you are reading this means that you want your bowling alley project to be done right. Good job! Chances are you’re not an expert in bowling alley design and construction. Don’t worry... Fusion Bowling specializes in custom bowling alleys for homes, multifamily amenities, and other private recreation buildings throughout the United States.

Call us early in your planning process at 📞904-701-2695. When you have your preliminary plans, email them to hello@fusionbowling.com, and we’ll review them and provide comments.

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Architecture

How Many Lanes?

1 lane is best suited for pro bowlers that practice by themselves, or for spaces that have width constraints. This configuration has the highest price on a per-lane basis, and the slowest game pace.

2 lanes is the most popular choice for single-family homes. It allows teams to alternate turns on left and right lanes (as in league play), and creates a more constant flow of action. Bowling lanes are engineered to work in pairs that share many components, which makes adding the even-numbered lane relatively inexpensive.

4 lanes work well for apartment and resort amenities, or for homeowners who love to entertain and host events.

When you decide how many bowling lanes you need, be sure to download the corresponding free PDF and/or CAD drawings from FusionBowling.com.

Location Within Building

Within a building, the best location for a bowling alley is (ranked):

1. Ground level with double-door
2. Basement with walk-out double-door at ground level.
3. Basement with wide, straight, exterior stairs with a large landing and double-door leading into basement.

Many homes and recreation barns incorporate the bowling lanes into a larger game room or entertainment area. In these cases, it’s nice to keep the bowling alley open on one side so the sights and sounds of bowling mix with compatible and adjacent recreation spaces.

Equipment Access

Consider how Fusion Bowling’s crew will move the bowling equipment from the truck to the bowling room. Equipment delivery and installation happens simultaneously, near the end of the overall building construction timeline. Fusion Bowling will not deliver equipment early.

Brunswick GS pinsetter machines are large and heavy—the biggest piece is 7 feet tall, requires 48 inches of width clearance, and weighs 1,200 pounds. Brunswick Boost machines, however, can fit through a normal 3-foot door. Some of the bowling lane materials are 15 feet long, so avoid designing narrow hallways with sharp turns leading into the bowling room.

Room Size

Length

‍‍A good bowling alley space is about 100 feet long. The footprint of the bowling equipment itself is 87 feet long, and includes the approach (where the bowler walks), bowling lanes, pinsetter machines, and a service aisle behind the machines. If you tack on a 13-foot long seating area, you now have a 100-foot long space.

Depth

‍‍The finished surface of the bowling lane is built up 17 inches high. Since most people prefer a flush flooring transition, they create a slab depression that is 17 inches deep. For more details on the slab depression, see the Structural Engineering section below.

Width

‍The width of the slab depression, which is slightly wider than the bowling equipment, is shown in the chart below. If you need side aisles for access to the pinsetter machine room, make them about 3 feet wide. If you’ll access the pinsetter machine room through a side door from an adjacent room, you might not need side aisles at all. It’s technically okay if the walls are right up against the sides of the pinsetter machines. However, it’s still nice to have 1 or 2 feet of space along the sides so the bowlers won’t feel like they’ll brush up against the wall while bowling.

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Ceiling Height

A 10’ ceiling is ideal, and 8’ is the minimum (measured from the finished lane surface). The main concern is in the pinsetter machine room—you have to provide enough ceiling height to allow a technician to service the top of the pinsetter machines.

Ceiling height can also be a concern up front. Fusion Bowling will hang overhead scoring monitors from the ceiling, over the center of the approach. Ceilings lower than 9 feet mean we’ll need to mount the scoring monitors on a wall.

Curtain Wall

Separate the back-of-house pinsetter machine room from the bowlers’ area by building a curtain wall (a.k.a. masking wall or header wall), which will hang across the lanes, in front of the pinsetter machines. The distance from the back end of the slab depression to the rear face of the curtain wall should be 16 feet.

The bowling pins stand about 5 feet behind the curtain wall. People are often surprised to learn the pins are recessed so far back, since, from the bowler’s perspective at the foul line, it appears that the curtain wall is directly above the pins.

A person who walks toward the pins or views the bowling alley from an elevated position will quickly lose sight of the pins due to sight lines being blocked by the curtain wall. Plan your seating locations accordingly.

Pinsetter Machine Room

The pinsetter machine room is 18 feet long (assuming the slab depression extends all the way against the back wall of the room). The three components of the room, from front to back, are:

• A 2-foot, 3-inch space for a technician to stand in front of the pinsetter machine.
• A 9-foot, 2-inch long pinsetter machine.
• A 4-foot, 7-inch service aisle behind the pinsetter machine, and within the slab depression.

Make sure the path into the pinsetter machine room is a relatively convenient one for a bowling homeowner. Don’t force them to go outside, for example, which would require them to change shoes, put on a raincoat, etc.

Seating Area

The ideal position for bowling alley seating is one where the viewer’s line of sight is most aligned with the lanes—in other words, directly behind the approach. This location allows the viewer to more easily track the path of the ball. Conversely, spectators that are seated, say, halfway down the side of the lanes, will have difficulty watching the ball zoom past them from side to side. Furthermore, they may not be able to see some or all of the pins from that vantage point.

Storage

Designate storage places for a lane oiling machine, miscellaneous maintenance supplies, and guest bowling balls and bowling shoes.

Lane Oiling Machine

Create a closet or storage niche for a lane oiling machine. These machines weigh 250 to 350 pounds and roll on casters. They should be stored near the approach where they can be easily rolled onto the lanes without having to be carried up or down any stairs. The dimensions of the largest model, when in storage (tilted up on edge), are 45 inches tall, 57 inches wide, and 18 inches deep.

Maintenance Supplies

Designate a space for storing the bowling lane maintenance supplies—comprised of gutter mops, approach dust mop, general-purpose towels, lane conditioner (“oil”), lane cleaner fluid, mixing vessel, all-purpose cleaner, approach cleaner, shoe deodorizer spray, suction cup (for accessing the trap door under the ball return).

Some people store these supplies in the pinsetter machine room. But if you already have a closet up front for a lane oiling machine, and it’s big enough to accommodate them, it might make sense to keep the supplies in there.

Balls and Shoes

Designate a space for custom millwork (by others) to store the bowling balls and shoes. A shelving depth of 12 inches will accommodate both shoes and bowling balls nicely. See the Ball & Shoe Storage section below for further details, or visit www.fusionbowling.com/storage to see a collection of storage idea photos.

The ball rack that is mounted to the front of the ball return is meant for temporarily holding the bowling balls that are currently in use, and is not meant to be a permanent storage solution. See www.fusionbowling.com/storage for photos and millwork design ideas. See the Ball & Shoe Storage section below in the Interior Design section for more details.

Sound Isolation

This section is about isolating noise—preventing it from leaving the bowling area and entering a nearby space with an incompatible use (bedroom, study, etc). The Sound Absorption section (under the Interior Design section below), on the other hand, addresses improving the quality of sound within the bowling area.

Noise travels through structures via mechanical vibrations. To minimize it, look for construction assemblies and materials that have STC ratings (usually in the 30 to 70 range). The higher the STC rating, the better.

Potential sound isolation methods and materials:

1. Design air gaps in walls. Examples:
   - Frame double walls with one inch of separation.
   - Frame walls with wider (2x6) sole and top plates and staggered, offset 2x4 studs.
2. Fill wall cavities with mineral wool soundproofing insulation. Examples:
   - ROCKWOOL SAFE’n’SOUND®
   - Owens Corning THERMAFIBER® SAFB™
3. Incorporate more mass by doubling up layers of drywall.
4. Specify noise-reducing laminated drywall. Examples:
   - QuietRock® 545
   - Gold Bond® SoundBreak XP Wall®
   - SilentFX® QuickCut™
5. Specify a visco-elastic damping sealant. Sandwich it between rigid sheet materials, and/or use it to fill gaps and joints around the perimeter of walls, ceilings, and openings. Examples:
   - Green Glue®
   - Auralex® StopGap™
   - QuietSeal® Pro
   - LIQUID NAILS® Acoustical Sound Sealant
6. Use acoustical putty pads to encapsulate electrical boxes, especially ones that are on opposite sides of the same stud cavity. Examples:
   - 3M™ Fire Barrier Moldable Putty Pads MPP+
   - QuietPutty®
   - Trademark Soundproofing Acoustical Outlet Backer Putty Pad
7. Add a layer of mass-loaded vinyl (MLV) between rigid materials. Examples:
   - Acoustiblok® Soundproofing Material
   - Sound Seal® B-20 NR Noise Barrier
   - K-FLEX K-FONIK GK

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Interior Design

This section is mainly provided as a courtesy to bring certain topics to your attention. Fusion Bowling provides the bowling alley equipment itself, but does not do furnishings, decorations, lighting, or wall/ceiling/floor finishes. Here are some interior design ideas to spark your imagination...

Sound Absorption

Bowling alley rooms are often shaped like big hallways, and the bowling lanes themselves are long, hard surfaces. This tends to create unpleasant reverberation within the room. Counteract this by specifying more “soft” finishes, and fewer “hard” finishes. Examples:

• Install carpet in lieu of tile.
• Add some fabric-wrapped acoustic wall panels instead of just drywall alone.
• Hang decorative acoustical ceiling panels, baffles, or sound soak shapes, rather than having a 100% hard surface ceiling.

These are all good ways to reduce echo, make conversation more intelligible, and create an environment that just feels better. Look for products that have an NRC rating—the higher the rating (between 0 and 1.0), the better.

Ball & Shoe Storage

You’ll need a spot for bowling ball and shoe storage. The best home bowling alleys have custom designed millwork for that. Fusion Bowling provides 40 pairs of shoes and 20 bowling balls per pair of lanes. In addition, homeowners will often go out and acquire their own custom-fit balls and shoes, so design a few extra spaces. Place the storage near the approach or seating area, and keep it open and on display so the bowlers can easily identify the ball weights and shoe sizes they need. For design inspiration, check out www.fusionbowling.com/storage for a photo album of examples.

Storage Type

Cubby holes are a popular choice for shoes, but regular flat shelves also do the trick. Parallel pipes or rails work well for holding bowling balls. If you go with cubby holes or shelves for the balls, you’ll need to cut 5-½ inch diameter holes (with 45º chamfered edges) into the shelves so the balls can sit down in them and not roll around.

Spacing for Balls

Bowling balls have a diameter of 8-9/16 inches. Add to that a few extra inches clearance to lift the ball up off the shelf, and you get a vertical spacing of about 12 to 16 inches on center for stacking rows of shelves. Horizontal spacing is about 9 to 12 inches, which is the same as a pair of shoes.

Spacing for Shoes

Shoes need a vertical shelf spacing of about 6 to 8 inches on center, which is nice because two tiers of shoes fits perfectly into the height required for one tier of balls. Horizontally, the cubby holes for shoes can be spaced every 9 to 12 inches—same as for the balls.

Flooring

Because concrete work is never perfectly square, straight, and plumb, the depression in the slab is sized slightly larger than the width of the bowling alley equipment. There will be a small gap along the perimeter of the bowling alley, which can be covered by flooring.

Carpet is a good choice for acoustics - it absorbs echo well. It can be tacked to the vertical piece of lumber under the gutter capping trim, which is slightly raised above the adjacent flooring. If you opt for carpet, be sure to spec/install a reducer or threshold molding which will protect the exposed edge of the bowling lane material.

Tile is bad on acoustics, and can break if a heavy bowling ball is dropped.

Wood or vinyl are usually good choices.

Stained concrete (or similar thin coatings) are the worst flooring choice. First, there's no elegant way to hide the gap along the perimeter of the slab depression, outside of covering it with a board or molding, which will interrupt the perfect overall rectangular footprint of the bowling alley. It also doesn't allow an opportunity to "float up" low spots in the slab to create a perfectly flush transition onto the bowling lane material. Further, the acoustics are bad.

Wall Design

Break up the long, monotonous, linear look of the room by adding elements to the walls that are perpendicular to the orientation of the bowling lanes. In other words, add intermittent pilaster or half-column elements, interspersed with large framed artwork or colorful fabric-wrapped or acoustic panels. But don’t add a chair rail, for example, which would be parallel to the bowling lanes.

If you do end up with flat walls, consider whether a mirror or a giant mural down one or both sides would enhance the room. Or if the bowling room is adjacent to another large open space, but you want to contain the sound, consider having a wall of glass to make both spaces feel larger and less compartmentalized while still blocking a lot of the sound.

If you have windows, it’s better if they’re on the north side of the building so direct sunlight doesn’t fall on the lanes. Even without direct sunlight, windows still allow indirect ultraviolet light to leak into the room and cause the bowling lanes to “glow” at unwanted times during the day. Covering the windows with a clear UV-blocking film will easily fix this.

Ceiling Design

Similar to the Wall Design principles described above, create ceiling elements/lines/shapes that can break up the length of the room, and are perpendicular to the bowling lanes. Create beams or coffered sections across the lanes every 10 to 15 feet. Or design a “saw tooth” ceiling profile which gently slopes downward toward the bowling pins and then vertically returns to the starting height every 10 to 15 feet.

Special Effects Lighting

The bowling lanes and balls can “glow” (fluoresce) under black light. Many homeowners like to take advantage of this by adding black lighting (by others), along with other special effects lighting (strobes, disco balls, lasers, water ripple effects, etc) over the bowling lanes to create a nighttime party atmosphere.

The challenge is that most of that special lighting comes in the form of ugly surface-mounted fixtures that plug into receptacles, and are actually meant more for a concert type venue. This is where the previous section on ceiling design becomes even more important: The ugly light fixtures and their electrical outlets can be installed on the back sides of the aforementioned ceiling “saw teeth”, beams, or coffers—hidden from the bowler’s view.

Furniture

If there are four or five bowlers per lane, it can take a while between each bowler’s turn to bowl. Therefore, it’s important to provide comfy options for sitting, snacking, waiting, socializing, etc. Many private bowling alleys have uniquely designed built-in banquette seating, either in a straight row or a U-shape. Sectional sofas are also common. Having several loose chairs that can be rearranged works well too, and allows the greatest flexibility for the bowlers. Don’t forget to add a coffee table or two.

The furniture that is made by bowling manufacturers is good if you have 30 bowling lanes in a row, because the furniture is modular, and fits a pair of lanes perfectly. But for 1- to 4-lane bowling alleys in homes, it makes more sense (both financially, aesthetically, and logistically) to furnish the bowling area from the same source that is furnishing the rest of the house.

Colors

Everybody has seen the same old colors that are in most commercial bowling centers. By picking unique colors, you send a subtle message that your project is unique—the equipment was manufactured specifically for this particular home.

Bowling Lane Color

The color of the bowling lanes will have the biggest visual impact on the room since they are the main component and occupy such a large amount of square footage. Keep in mind:

1. The bowling lane material can’t venture outside the confines of the bowling alley foundation system. We won’t install it in the side aisles, seating area, etc.
2. We recommend against trying to match the bowling lane color with the color of the adjacent flooring. It will likely look like a mistake. Instead, select contrasting, complementary colors. This will look intentional, and will create a subtle visual cue delineating the sport zone from the spectator zone.

Ball & Pin Colors

If your project includes custom made balls and pins, you should think of them as an opportunity to create interior design accent colors for the room. People’s eyes are drawn down the lanes toward the pins and curtain wall. White pins are, of course, the classic color, which will go well with any interior design scheme. But an unusual pin color can draw attention in a good way.

The guest bowling balls are typically stored in the open, in a convenient place near the approach, where they can easily be seen and accessed by the bowlers. Use them as an interior design accent color.

Curtain Wall Design

The curtain wall, a.k.a. masking wall, is the back wall that hangs across the lanes in front of the pinsetter machines. People will usually be looking in the direction of the curtain wall, which is why many people want to decorate it with something interesting. Some ideas include a video projection screen, video wall, neon sign, custom millwork, mural, etc.

Safety Rail

If your bowling room will have foot traffic along one or both sides of the lanes, add a safety railing or knee wall to prevent people from accidentally tripping over the raised capping trim, and into the gutter or oily lane surface. The safety railing should begin at, or just beyond, the foul line, and end at the curtain wall.

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Structural Engineering

Pinsetter machines can weigh up to 5,100 pounds per pair, so it's important to make sure the floor can hold the weight. The easiest and most common way to accomplish this is to build the bowling alley on a 5-inch thick concrete slab. Ensure 0.5 inches of levelness throughout the slab.

The finished lane elevation will be built up 17 inches high. Therefore, most people create a 17 inch deep slab depression, which yields a flush flooring transition. We recommend building up the walls of the depression with CMU blocks, as opposed to pouring against form boards. The CMUs will be more plumb.

See Fusion Bowling's typical drawings for slab depression dimensions. These dimensions already include extra wiggle room, so do not make the slab depression deeper or wider than specified.

There are three embedded conduits along the side of the slab depression. These will be used by the electrician to pull power to devices underneath the bowling alley. Download Fusion Bowling's typical drawings for conduit locations.

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Electrical

This section is an overview of the electrical requirements. The drawings available on the Downloads page include a detailed chart of the electrical circuits. Be sure to schedule an on-site meeting with Fusion Bowling before proceeding with electrical work in the bowling alley area.

Subpanel

Provide a 100-amp subpanel in the pinsetter mechanical room. This subpanel is dedicated to circuits for bowling equipment only, and should not include any pumps, HVAC, or any other non-bowling equipment. Be sure to locate the subpanel where the pinsetter machines will not encroach into the 36-inch clear zone in front of the subpanel.

Pinsetter Machines

Each pair of pinsetter machines is powered by a single drop cord from the ceiling (provided by your electrician). The pinsetter machines use 3-phase power. Don't worry... Fusion Bowling will provide a phase converter.

Under-Lane Circuits

The bumpers, foul detectors, capping lights, and ball return are all located underneath the bowling lanes. Your electrician will pull power to these devices from the bowling subpanel through embedded conduits in the side of the slab depression, and will attach his junction boxes to Fusion Bowling's structure beneath the bowling lanes while the bowling alley is being installed.

Scoring System

Provide an electrical receptacle for the scoring monitors. Typically, these are hung from the ceiling (by Fusion Bowling) over the ball return. On the rear face of the curtain wall which hangs across the lanes, provide a hard-wired (non-wireless) live internet jack, along with an additional quad receptacle which will be used for the network switch, router, display controller, backup power supply, and other electronics. Provide a one-inch smooth (non-corrugated), rigid conduit in the ceiling, which will start at the scoring monitors and lead all the way back to the electronics on the rear face of the curtain wall. This conduit will allow Fusion Bowling to pull data cables to the scoring monitors.

Lane Oiling Machine

Provide a 5-20R wall receptacle (somewhere near the foul line) for the lane oiling machine, which will have a dedicated 20-amp circuit. If the architect has provided a closet for the lane oiling machine, you may also want to provide a receptacle for it in there as well.

Lighting

Consider providing separately switched lighting zones for the following areas:

• Pinsetter mechanical room. Be sure to center lights directly over the service aisle, and also directly over the top of the pinsetter machines.
• Bowling lanes. Some bowlers prefer brightly lit lanes to more easily track the path of their ball, while wanting a subdued lighting over the approach and seating area, or vice versa.
• Approach and bowler seating area.
• "Cosmic bowling" lights. Black lights (if any) used for making the bowling lanes fluoresce or "glow" should be on a separate switch.

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HVAC & Plumbing

Maintain a constant temperature of 72ºF ± 4º and a relative humidity of 45% ± 5%. The bowling alley must be installed after the permanent HVAC system is up and running in order to acclimate the materials and avoid damage and problems with expansion and contraction. Ductwork cannot be run under the bowling lanes. If the room is to be heated via radiant tubing, do not place any tubing beneath the bowling alley.

Pipes, drains, ducts, radiant tubing, etc should not be placed beneath the bowling equipment. If a sump pump basin is installed in the bowling alley depression, make sure it is located within the service aisle behind the pinsetter machines in the very back of the slab depression so that it will not be covered by the bowling equipment.