Those of us who played high school or collegiate athletics know what the inside of a locker room looks like. They're typically unattractive and utilitarian spaces.

That changes at the D1 or professional level, of course, where player retention is important. In America, professional athletes are the closest thing we have to actual superheroes, and teams lavish money on locker room design to keep players happy. The spaces often have a boardroom-like aesthetic, and they're designed to present as hallowed spaces where the best of the best assemble. As an example, let's look at some locker rooms from the NBA, from design firms that specialize in them. These here are by Shield Lockers, Dimensional Innovations and Generator Studio.

Golden State Warriors

Locker rooms are always windowless, so lighting becomes super important for setting the room's tone. Bright lighting is always provided at the lockers, so the players can see their gear; but this can be aesthetically offset by choosing dark materials for surfaces, lending the space a feel of solemnity.

Charlotte Hornets

Sometimes elaborate overhead lighting is used to set the feel of a room. And in the case of the Hornets' locker room, a bit of theater is thrown in: On game day the players' jerseys hover, ghost-like, behind translucent doors.

Brooklyn Nets

On the other end of the spectrum from Golden State, Brooklyn's team has an almost startlingly bright locker room. There's no dark wood—in fact there's hardly any wood at all—and frosted glass features prominently.

This is also one of the few teams' locker rooms that gives us a good look at the lockers themselves. Overhead compartments store hats and bags. Featuring a safe drawer for personal items, the lockers resemble the closets in a boutique hotel, with a few NBA-specific twists thrown in: A ventilated drawer at the bottom for sneaker storage, angled acrylic shelves for game-day sneakers, and the closet is split to separate street clothes from uniforms.

If you're interested in locker design for sports teams, Shield has some freely available resources. "We combed through nearly all D1 and professional sports projects in the last 5 years, and created a reference guide for you to build with - complete with Revit files," the firm writes. "No more guesswork, just proven success to help you create the best athletic spaces."

You can find their State of the Locker resources here.