Projects
- Phoenix, Arizona, USA
- Completion: 2006
- Capacity: 65,000
HOK Sport's work on the new football stadium for the Arizona Cardinals allowed the firm's design team to think differently about NFL stadium design. For one, the team was afforded the opportunity to collaborate with New York architect Peter Eisenman, who had never before designed a football stadium, yet was an avid fan of the game. Second, the multipurpose aspect of the stadium allowed the team to reevaluate what NFL stadiums can provide for their communities.
After Eisenman Architects devised initial design concepts for the new stadium, HOK Sport became a part of the project in 1999. HOK Sport regularly evaluated five major aspects of the project:
- the building image, which changed drastically once the final site had been selected;
- the multiple uses the building was to serve in addition to NFL games;
- the operable roof, which was studied extensively to define a cost-effective solution;
- the rolling field, a first for North America, allowing football to be played on natural grass indoors;
- and the project budget, which was tested constantly against the plan.
Standing inside the seating bowl offers a dramatic view to the action on the field. While the super trusses (structures that hold up the operable roof and span the length of the building) are 90 feet deep, the building remains light and airy. The translucent roof fabric allows changing natural light to reflect the outside environment as well.
"I very much enjoy the drama of the building design, the fact that people react strongly to the building and love it or hate it. It generates a reaction - which I think good architecture should do," says Dennis Wellner, HOK Sport senior principal and leader of 12 of HOK's NFL projects. "I believe it is very important to show that these buildings can go beyond the expected."