SoFi Stadium Wins 2021 Prix Versailles World Prize for Architecture and Design
HKS-designed SoFi Stadium has won the 2021 Prix Versailles World Prize for Architecture and Design in the Sports category. The Prix Versailles, in conjunction with UNESCO, honors outstanding architecture around the world that promotes the intersection of culture, economy and social recognition through beautiful and sustainable design.
SoFi Stadium, home of the Los Angeles Rams and Chargers, is the world’s first true indoor-outdoor stadium, providing the feel of a venerable open-air stadium while providing the flexibility of a traditional domed structure. It is designed to enhance the experiences of everyone from the first-time fan to longtime season-ticket holders and at 3.1 million square feet (288,500 square meters), the 70,000-seat stadium is the largest in the National Football League. It is the centerpiece of a three-venue entertainment destination that also includes the 6,000-seat YouTube Theater and the 3-acre American Airlines Plaza, all three of which can operate independently of each other.
Anchored 100 feet below ground to comply with strict federal flight regulations due to its close proximity to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and designed to withstand seismic events, SoFi Stadium offers guests sweeping landscaped paths or “canyons” to help them navigate to their seats; constant and calming Pacific breezes; and the mammoth Samsung Infinity Videoboard, a 2-million pound, dual-sided, 4K LED scoreboard that provides real-time visuals and information to fans from any place in the venue.
The stadium’s single-layer ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) roof allows ample natural light and serves as a single canopy covering all three SoFi venues. The ETFE film features a 65% frit pattern that protects guests from direct sunlight and reduces solar gain into the venue, and an LED system embedded into the panels of the roof allows passengers flying in and out of LAX to see live stadium feeds from the air.
