[BuiltRamTough]

http://www.si.com/nfl/2016/12/29/los-an ... twitter_si

Southern California will soon be home to the largest stadium complex in the NFL.
Think of the Los Angeles Rams’ new home in Inglewood as California’s largest indoor-outdoor entertainment space. But instead of a restaurant opening onto a dining patio or a retailer spilling onto a street, this design includes a 70,000-seat stadium, 6,000-seat performance venue and an open plaza embracing the breeze-filled Southern California air, but still fully covered from the elements by a translucent ETFE canopy.

The canopy—using the same material found in Minnesota’s U.S. Bank Stadium roof, also designed by HKS Architects—covers everything. “First and foremost we are taking advantage of the incredible climate we all know about in that region,” Mark Williams, HKS lead architect on the project, tells SI.com. “At the same time we had to couple that with some assurance that events would have protection from wind, rain, sun or some other climatic elements.”

Whether it’s an awards show, concert or basketball game, the event and fans stay protected, while the natural air infiltrates the space with a complete 360-degree opening around the venue.

“Natural breezes flow through,” Williams says. “It is very common in Southern California, the indoor-outdoor experience. We have done that same design mentality and scaled it up to three million square feet.”

The main material in the canopy offers translucent ETFE—a polymer-based durable but lightweight film—over 70% of the structure, while the outer 30% offers perforated metal panels to help give the exterior a skin. The gaps that welcome the natural weather range from a few feet in some places to up to 70 feet in others.

Courtesy of HKS Architects

With ground broken on the site in November, owner Stan Kroenke plans to have his $2.6 billion gem open for the start of the 2019 season. The entire 300-acre site, which once was home to the Hollywood Park racetrack, includes the stadium site of 60 acres, with the remainder available for retail, dining, hospitality and residential. The stadium sits at the center of that plan, but has breathing room that allows for more than just the building to become a ticketed area on game days. With the largest footprint of any stadium in the NFL, Williams has opened up the option to move security and ticketing away from the building so that fans can enjoy the park, paths and lake of the plaza area after getting admitted into the site. The park will remain open on non-gamedays.

“It just makes that experience going through the site to the stadium a much higher level,” Williams says. “It is not just a sea of concrete, but is landscaped and terraced.”

With a focus placed on the exterior park, coupled with FAA regulations that limit the height of a stadium in the direct incoming flight path of 40 million passengers annually to Los Angeles International Airport, two miles west of the stadium, Williams had to push 75% of the building underground, prompting a new style of building entry.

“What grew out of that was one of the neatest features of the whole design,” he says. “We have peeled back and terraced around the perimeter, around entry points, so when you are coming in you have a heavily landscaped entry that blends its way into the building.”

By meshing landscape inside and mimicking the terraced steps commonly found leading to Southern California ocean beaches, Williams says they have a stadium embedded into the landscape. “There is a meandering path, landscaped, as you work your way down into the building,” he says. “It is going to be incredible versus going up a sidewalk. It answers the FAA restrictions and becomes one of the great trademarks.”

Inside, the new stadium has one of the highest percentages of premium seats in the league, matching the demographics of the 10 million residents nearby. Williams says they will have options in a range of styles to meet varying price points, but still expect an “L.A.-based market design.”

A focus on technology integration shows up with a two-sided center video board that wraps the entire stadium interior and multiple rings of video “embedding the seating bowl.” Fans will have multiple video boards visible from their seat. “In front of you, you have the live action and depending on the content, you have the opportunity to watch and do multiple things [on the video boards] and still watch live action down on the field,” he says.

To keep with the Southern California indoor-outdoor entertainment theme, Williams says work continues on ensuring a food and beverage plan that improves on the historically low quality seen from typical stadium fare.

And when the entire complex is complete, it will be the largest stadium site in the NFL.

For more stadium news, follow Tim Newcomb on Twitter at @tdnewcombor @stadium185.

[Hacksaw]

better hurry ,,,

of course no mention of how many voted.

[RamsFanSince82]

Fox is having fun trolling. They had a poll about a week ago asking people if they wanted the Chargers to move to LA. About 85% of the people said no.

[St. Loser Fan]

I really do hope they do a better job than AT&T Stadium in Arlington Texas. For the biggest stadium in the NFL, I was shocked by how pedestrian the food and beer choices were.

[Cmmmmm]

We were lucky enough to attend a preseason game in September at USBank stadium in Minneapolis, and if that is any indication of what is to come for the Rams stadium, then we are in for a real treat. The seats were very comfortable, but more than that, they were spaced so you didn't have to get up to let someone pass in front of you. No more Coliseum spacing! The food choices were stadium fare plus local restaurants, and you could order by app and have it waiting for you. Speaking of app, it GPS'd you to your seat or concession stand, no more questions about where you were. We thought it odd, maybe a mid west thing, but the bar sold beer and mixed drinks but not wine. Prices were mid-west cheap, startlingly so to this Californian. Video board was huge, as expected, and there was a very welcoming but concrete outdoor gathering area in front. Being brand new, it was amazing. And I expect nothing less in Los Angeles.

[BuiltRamTough]

We were lucky enough to attend a preseason game in September at USBank stadium in Minneapolis, and if that is any indication of what is to come for the Rams stadium, then we are in for a real treat. The seats were very comfortable, but more than that, they were spaced so you didn't have to get up to let someone pass in front of you. No more Coliseum spacing! The food choices were stadium fare plus local restaurants, and you could order by app and have it waiting for you. Speaking of app, it GPS'd you to your seat or concession stand, no more questions about where you were. We thought it odd, maybe a mid west thing, but the bar sold beer and mixed drinks but not wine. Prices were mid-west cheap, startlingly so to this Californian. Video board was huge, as expected, and there was a very welcoming but concrete outdoor gathering area in front. Being brand new, it was amazing. And I expect nothing less in Los Angeles.

Yea, the Vikings stadium has gotten positive reviews by everyone.

HKS designed Inglewood too so that's great thing.

[St. Loser Fan]

We thought it odd, maybe a mid west thing, but the bar sold beer and mixed drinks but not wine.

That's an upper midwest thing: Minnesota and Wisconsin. Beer is by far #1, mixed drinks a distant #2 and wine is a complete afterthought.

[Hacksaw]

This is going to be so great after the Coliseum, for those that can afford it.

Wine in a plastic cup is blasphemous.

[St. Loser Fan]

Wine in a plastic cup is blasphemous.

I don't know what you guys serve out there, but most stadiums I've been to serve swill like Yellowtail or Sutter Home. I'd rather drink Miller Lite.

[Hacksaw]

I don't know what you guys serve out there, but most stadiums I've been to serve swill like Yellowtail or Sutter Home. I'd rather drink Miller Lite.

haha, those wines in crystal still sucks. The box versions are forgettable.