Project Overview
SoFi Stadium, is an unprecedented and unparalleled sports and entertainment destination built in Inglewood, California. At 3.1 million square feet, it is the largest of the NFL stadiums, and is home to the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers. The only indoor-outdoor NFL stadium opened in September 2020. It has hosted numerous world-class events including Super Bowl LVI and College Football Championship, and will host the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and the opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Olympic Games in 2028.
The venue located at Hollywood Park is home to three separate venues, SoFi Stadium, YouTube Theater, and American Airlines Plaza. The stadium, spanning 70,000 seats for sporting events can be expanded to 100,000 seats for special events. The stadium features 12 clubs and lounges with 13,000 premium seats. The 6,000 seat YouTube Theater was designed to provide a more intimate venue and is located at the Southeast end of the complex. According to Engineering firm, Walter P Moore, the design and construction team overcame a myriad of technical, management, and site challenges to create the world's greatest stadium just 500 yards from an active earthquake fault and directly below the two primary flight approach paths to Los Angeles International Airport, just three miles away.
The stadium is composed of three independent structures. The stadium's first structure involves a 100-foot-deep excavation with retaining walls, creating a free-standing basin with a playing surface twice as low as any other NFL stadium. The second structure is the seating bowl. The entire stadium was built in the excavated hole and is separate from the retaining walls and roof construction.
The iconic roof canopy is 1.2 million square feet and compromises 800,000 square feet of translucent panels. The roof canopy has over 20 million ventilation holes, supported by 37 concrete columns and a steel framework. The canopy is moveable, designed for wind sway and coastal breezes, and secured with four key anchor points for earthquake stability.
The Samsung Infinity Screen, or Oculus, is the world's largest center-hung sideboard, 120 yards long, four floors tall, and 2.2 million pounds. It features 70,000 sq. ft. of 4k video on both sides, providing an unparalleled spectator experience, and its size and weight were designed into the structure, stabilizing the roof.
Precast Solution
"Coreslab L.A.'s experience and depth of knowledge with stadiums and relevant Design Assist experience proved to be key factors in the precast concrete decision. Resilience and proven life cycle attributes also proved to be important considerations that influenced the final decision to select precast concrete. Precast was ideal for the bowl project which provided a durable, seismic resistant, low-maintenance facility for high usage." says Michelle Stevenson of HKS.
The team chose a steel structure with precast topping for a stadium, erecting it in a 100-foot-deep trench and minimizing onsite trades. Section-by-section steel framing and raker beam installation preceded the precast erect, reducing erection and schedule time along with site impact.
Coreslab L.A. discussed whether the precast should be part of the structural diaphragm during initial Design Assist meetings with the architect and engineer. After extensive discussion, it was determined that the steel structure could not withstand the designed loads. To address this, Coreslab L.A. developed a unique collector connection system between the precast and steel framing.
HKS Architects worked hard to bring fans closer to the action and deliver the best possible views. As a result, the top bowl cantilevers over the bottom bowl in several locations. While this is fantastic for the audience experience, it makes precast erecting challenging. The order of the manufacturing, erection, radius to piece from the crane, product coordination, and staging erecting all require special thought. The stadium is not a typical oval like others. To improve the fan experience, many suite-level precast tubs had unusual shapes and geometry protruded into the oval. Low repetition of precast concrete piece shapes demanded great precision to accomplish the architect's vision.
Coordination with other trades was crucial for both fit against other materials and embedded objects in precast. The stadium has a major Wi-Fi and technological component, which necessitated a significant quantity of cast-in sleeves, boxes, and embedded parts. Coreslab L.A. organized and accurately placed more than 10,000 components embedded into the precast concrete elements for various other trades. |