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Background

This newly designed NFL stadium is a premiere multipurpose performance venue currently under construction. The design features a compound curved envelope that encloses the stadium, an 11-acre open-air plaza and a performance venue. This elegantly designed enclosure is comprised of an anodized aluminum skin, and a translucent ETFE membrane.

Facade Rationalization

The triangular panels are uniquely articulated to conform to this complex geometry in such a way that no two panels are the same. This metal skin is over 270,000 square feet of surface area and is defined by 32,243 panels. One of the signature statements incorporated into this skin is a stippled pattern reminiscent of a shimmering ocean spray and white caps breaking against the sandy beach.

Translucency of the soft aluminum surface was achieved through a complex pattern of perforations, allowing the light to simultaneously bounce off the finely textured opaque surface, while transmitting light from the interior. To satisfy the desire to create the effect of a naturally occurring phenomenon, rather than a rigid or repetitive man-made pattern, the density and size of perforations were differentiated across the skin, creating dappled concentrations of variable opacity. The resulting outcome is more akin to a shaded covering of cumulus clouds or light filtering into the interior of a collapsing wave.

Design-To-Fabrication

To tackle the task of design-to-fabrication for the abundance of custom panels, a specialized application was developed. Working hand-in-hand with Zahner, each panel was described according to constraints needed to fully automate production. Rather than describe these panels through drawings, each panel’s unique geometric condition was formatted into an intelligent list of numeric parameters.