Archinect - News

A look at the architecture of LA’s SoFi Stadium, voted today as host of Super Bowl LXI

2023-12-13T18:28:00-05:00

When SoFi Stadium takes center stage as the host of Super Bowl LXI in 2027, the eyes of an unprecedented number of viewers will be tuned in to see the skills of both architects and professional football players being put on display in what is taking shape to be the nation’s most dynamic team sports development.

The new home of the Los Angeles Rams and Chargers already hosted Super Bowl LVI in 2022 and was inaugurated during the 2020 season following a three-year construction effort and much older development plan that, in the end, awarded the community of Inglewood with a stadium that was previously slated for a Convention Center-adjacent site ten miles further northeast in Downtown LA.

Image: Nic LeHoux

HKS was the architect in charge of the project with help from all-pro landscape designer Mia Lehrer of the Los Angeles-based Studio-MLA.

Image: Nic LeHoux

Like so many of the players on the field, SoFi’s stats are rather impressive. The massive...

Super Bowl LVI will light up Studio-MLA’s award-winning Hollywood Park design

2022-01-12T15:22:00-05:00

The eyes of the sports world will soon be on Studio-MLA’s award-winning landscape design as it takes center stage during SoFi Stadium’s turn as host of the 56th Super Bowl in Los Angeles next month.

Around 100 million viewers are expected to tune in to this year’s version of the big game, which takes place in the new multibillion-dollar behemoth designed by HKS. Perhaps the most significant feature of the massive 3.1-million-square-foot stadium complex is the 25-acre Hollywood Park that is coming to life all around it, allowing it to serve in a way that helps the overall development meet its mandate as a vital anchor for the community of Inglewood.

Image © Craig Collins 2021

The park is part of a much larger complex that will eventually take up close to 300 acres and feature two other flexible performance venues as well as a 5.5-acre artificial lake designed by the studio to collect and reuse 26 million gallons a year in water runoff from each facility. What was once an empty racetr...

EarthCam releases 4k time-lapse of LA's SoFi Stadium construction

2020-12-09T13:47:00-05:00

EarthCam has released a 4k time-lapse video of the HKS-designed SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. The video took over 1400 days and four million images to document the construction process. The 3-minute time-lapse captures all 3.1 million square feet of the stadium. Check it out below.

Tech company to create 'digital twin' of new SoFi Stadium

2020-11-16T16:00:00-05:00

Digital twin provider Willow has announced a partnership with Hollywood Park to create a digital twin of a 300-acre sports and entertainment development, including SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.

According to Construction Dive, Willow will create a virtual copy of the stadium by capturing data in and around the area that will be "used to provide analytics and insight into the experience of attending a game there. This data will help SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park facilities managers to identify potential problems, optimize sustainability and manage risk."

SoFi Stadium, L.A.'s $5-billion NFL football venue, debuts

2020-09-14T18:42:00-04:00

After four years of construction, SoFi Stadium has made its debut in Inglewood with a game between the Rams and the Dallas Cowboys. [...] The complex will play host to both the Rams - which have been housed in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum since returning to Southern California in 2016 - and the Chargers - which are relocating from Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson.

Several years in the making, the HKS-designed SoFi Stadium in Inglewood just hosted its first NFL game, albeit without cheering crowds of spectators that may, one day, fill the 70,000 seats.

Not all construction projects are on hold right now

2020-03-31T13:22:00-04:00

Across the country, some state mandates have shut down all nonessential business and request that employees work remotely wherever possible, and shelter-in-place orders have kept people from leaving their homes aside from vital errands. At the same time, even in some of the cities and states with the most stringent shutdowns, construction continues.

A number of US States have ordered all non-essential construction projects to halt in an effort to flatten the curve among workers. But of course, "essential" is a fluent term and interpretations vary from state to state.

Construction Dive took a look at a few ongoing megaprojects and how they managed to keep construction running, including the new HKS-designed NFL SoFi Stadium for the Los Angeles Rams and the Los Angeles Chargers in Inglewood as well as the growing Amazon HQ2 Campus designed by ZGF Architects in Virginia, among others.

Does the future of the Los Angeles Rams go beyond football? The new $5 billion dollar stadium impacts more than just fans

2019-02-04T15:03:00-05:00

“If you’re going to build a stadium in a city, it has to play a larger role than the NFL. It has to bring people together in a meaningful way — both on Sunday and on every other day of the week, both in the fall and every other season. That’s the driver, [...] If you’re looking at a stadium project, everybody now is trying to figure out how you make it the epicenter of day-to-day life. Hopefully, this project will serve as a great model for that.”

Although recent events may have put a damper on the Rams historic season, the team's future is still bright. Los Angeles is already home to many championship teams, but what makes this particular team different is what its presence and growth will do for the city. Construction for the $5 billion stadium began in 2015, the stadium's timeline has kept the city buzzing with hope and optimism. Sports stadiums and arenas have been known to transform towns and cities alike. The new Los Angeles Rams football stadium is no exception.

Los Angeles Rams Stadium render by HKS Architects Image courtesy of HKS Architects

Los Angeles Rams construction site Image courtesy of Los Angeles Rams

Located in Inglewood, California the new stadium not only shapes the future of a sports team but of a city. According to Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts Jr. he "sees his city rising again after hard times and double-digit unemployment further damaged Inglewood’s psyche following the loss of its identity as a spor...

Inglewood NFL Stadium takes shape as roof truss is set into place

2019-01-03T14:25:00-05:00

Crews from AECOM Hunt and Turner Construction are hoisting the components of the stadium's immense roof truss into place. The metal structure will eventually be wrapped with a canopy of the plastic material ETFE, which will give the structure a translucent coat on which the logos of both its occupants can be displayed. Scheduled to open in 2020, the 70,000-seat stadium is scheduled to host the 2022 Super Bowl, and is also poised to play a key role in the 2028 Summer Olympic games.

Construction of the Inglewood NFL Stadium moves forward as its distinctive roof truss is hoisted into place. Meanwhile, in a recent report from KTLA 5, longtime business owners in Inglewood are already worried that they may have to move out due to rapidly rising rents as the stadium is built.

Construction update on L.A.'s new gigantic football stadium

2018-09-25T17:36:00-04:00

Get a bird's eye view of the new Inglewood Stadium with this 360-degree image, courtesy of architectural photographer Hunter Kerhart. The stadium, which is the centerpiece of a $5-billion redevelopment of the former Hollywood Park racetrack, will feature 70,000 seats when it opens in 2020. The HKS Architects-designed facility is expected to serve as the home of the Super Bowl in 2022, and will also play a prominent role in the 2028 Summer Olympic Games.

urbanize.LA recently published new drone's-eye-view construction photos of the impressive $5 billion Hollywood Park site—soon to be home of the shiny new Los Angeles Rams and Chargers NFL stadium (designed by HKS Architects) and a sprawling mixed-use development with office buildings by Gensler (architect) and Studio-MLA (formerly Mia Lehrer + Associates, landscape architect), shopping & entertainment venues by BCV Architecture + Interiors (design architect), Architects Orange (executive architect), and Studio-MLA (landscape architect) as well as residential buildings planned by Hart Howerton (design architect) and TCA Architects (executive architect).

Estimated cost for L.A.'s football stadium project climbs to $5 billion

2018-03-28T14:19:00-04:00

The cost of Stan Kroenke's stadium in Inglewood is climbing [...]. Owners approved raising the debt waiver to $4.963 billion for the first phase of the project, which includes the football stadium where the Rams and Chargers will play, the neighboring 6,000-seat performance venue, the 200,000 square feet of office space for NFL Media, the parking lots surrounding the stadium, and the cost of the entire 300-acre parcel.

The price tag for the stadium itself was originally estimated at $2.6 billion but is now closer to $3 billion — eye-wateringly higher than the most expensive NFL venues to date: MetLife Stadium, the shared home of the New York Giants and Jets, and the Atlanta Falcons' Mercedes-Benz Stadium, both clocking in at 'only' $1.6 billion.

Are you ready for some (more) football? New renderings of Inglewood's impending stadium revealed

2016-01-29T13:29:00-05:00

Highlights include a detailed look at the stadium's swooping roof canopy, which was designed by HKS Architects. [...] When completed in 2019, the $2.66-billion venue will offer seating for up to 70,240 NFL fans, as well as standing-room capacity for over 100,000 people at larger events. [...] The stadium is one component of a much larger mixed-use complex that is being jointly developed by real estate firms Stockbridge Capital and Wilson Meany along with Rams owner Stan Kroenke.

Check out the video below for another look at "the NFL's biggest and most expensive venue, with a price tag well over $2 billion... the priciest sports venue in the nation's history" (Curbed LA) – aka, the new home for the recently-minted Los Angeles Rams (and potentially the San Diego Chargers as well). More renderings are perusable in the gallery below. Yay?

Are you ready for some more FOOTBALL?!?!?

NFL football is officially returning to Los Angeles: gigantic new stadium might even be home to more than just one team

2016-01-13T13:34:00-05:00

After 21 years away, the NFL is coming back to Los Angeles. The winner after months of waiting and a busy day of voting and discussion among the NFL team owners in Houston was St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke [...]. The exciting twist is that the San Diego Chargers have the option to join the Rams in their huge, shiny stadium—which is poised to be the NFL's biggest and most expensive venue, with a price tag well over $2 billion. (It'd be the priciest sports venue in the nation's history, too.)

Previously in the Archinect news:

Organic kale for posh LA football fans: Newly unveiled stadium design sports a farmers' market and VVIP parking

2015-08-18T13:45:00-04:00

David Manica, president of Manica Architecture, the firm designing the stadium, previously described the open-air venue as “like a luxury sports car” and “very aerodynamic.” A brief video released Monday to promote the project described the stadium as “designed to be an instant classic.” Narrated by actor Kiefer Sutherland, it touted an on-site campus for the NFL that would “power every important league initiative for the next 50 years” as well as a farmers' market [...].

One must-have LA feature the Times article glanced over is the "VVIP In-Stadium Valet Parking for Premium Fans." After all, who wants to self-park their special-edition Lamborghini next to a stinking Porsche Boxster and then schlep their personally-trained buttocks all the way to the friggin' sky box?

James Dator at SBNation got the caption right: "HAHAHAHAHA! Look at all those poor people staring through the glass. They'll never own a car that nice, and they know it!"

What's your take, LA Archinectors? Will we be able to take the 101 to the 110 to the 405 soon to see a live NFL game?

Previously on Archinect:

Quest for LA football stadium enters the next round: Carson City Council approves its NFL stadium proposal

2015-04-23T14:26:00-04:00

The Carson City Council unanimously approved a privately financed stadium for the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders on Tuesday night, barely two months after the public announcement of the $1.7-billion project. "There are two things we need in California: rain … and football," Carson Mayor Albert Robles said after the 3-0 vote. "And football is coming to Carson!"

Previously:

AEG scraps plans to bring an NFL football stadium to downtown LA

2015-03-10T13:25:00-04:00

After investing five years and $50 million in an attempt to bring an NFL team back to Los Angeles, AEG is abandoning plans for its Farmers Field football stadium downtown. The sports and entertainment conglomerate is no longer in discussions with the NFL or any teams about the project, company officials said Monday. [...] In recent weeks, competing stadium proposals in Inglewood and Carson, backed by NFL team owners, have overshadowed the AEG plan.

Previously:

How to shop for an NFL stadium

2015-02-25T13:38:00-05:00

In the last 20 years, just one NFL stadium has been built solely through private funding. [...] Still, when it comes to getting the best deal out of an arena, leaving taxpayer money off the tab is only a good start. Studies have repeatedly shown that sports teams don’t have the far-reaching economic impacts that one might assume, and experts have noted that stadiums aren’t as catalytic as some franchise owners might tout.

Previously:

Is LA Finally Going to Get a Football Stadium?

2015-01-05T12:19:00-05:00

The owner of the St. Louis Rams plans to build an NFL stadium in Inglewood, which could pave the way for the league's return to Los Angeles...Owner Stan Kroenke, who bought 60 acres adjacent to the Forum a year ago, has joined forces with the owners of the 238-acre Hollywood Park site, Stockbridge Capital Group. They plan to add an 80,000-seat NFL stadium and 6,000-seat performance venue to the already-massive development of retail, office, hotel and residential space...

"The announcement is the latest in more than a dozen stadium proposals that have come and gone in the meandering, two-decade effort to bring an NFL franchise back to the nation's second-largest media market. But Kroenke's move marks the first time an existing team owner has controlled a local site large enough for a stadium and parking."

Special law for NFL stadium project unconstitutional, lawsuit claims

2012-08-30T20:14:00-04:00

A coalition of environmental activists and community advocates has mounted the first major legal challenge to a planned downtown [Gensler-designed] Los Angeles NFL stadium, filing a suit Thursday that says a state law intended to assist the project is unconstitutional.

Los Angeles NFL stadium and Convention Center project would boost tax revenue, studies find

2011-07-21T12:32:00-04:00

Construction of a $1-billion NFL stadium and a new wing of the Convention Center in downtown Los Angeles would dramatically increase the number of convention bookings while generating $22 million annually for the city, according to the findings of two reports commissioned by the project's developer.

Previously: