The Field House is a Renaissance Revival style building. It is composed of a rectilinear plan, steel frame, sandstone-clad main block, to the north side of which is attached a set of sandstone-clad concrete bleachers that form the south end of Camp Randall Stadium. The visually one-story-tall building is equivalent to a five-story building in overall height and contains a rectangular five-story-tall space that is used primarily as a basketball court and is ringed with three tiers of bleachers.

Basketball had its beginnings at the UW in 1898 and grew in popularity among the students. Emmett D. Angell acted as the UW¿s first basketball coach in 1904 and his team won its first championship title in 1905-1906. Games were held at the Old Red Gym, which had a seating capacity of just 2,240 for basketball games. As the winning tradition of UW basketball teams continued into the early twentieth century, a new facility was needed to hold the growing crowds.

The Field House was constructed primarily to house UW basketball games and had an original seating capacity of 8,000 for basketball games. The building, however, was also designed to replace the UW Stock Pavilion as the principal center for large scale cultural events. Bands, symphony orchestras, and popular entertainers have all performed in this space and it has also been the scene of UW and area high school graduation ceremonies and other public occasions.

The building is open to the public during athletic and other special events.