Mark Davis was also keen to keep HNTB on-board,
who originally competed as the design architect for the
Carson project but was eventually appointed architect
of record to help man it all. HNTB has a working
relationship with the Raiders that spans back to 1992
when it proposed a new stadium within the LA
Coliseum and worked on subsequent renovations of
the old Olympic venue.
“When we were selected for the Carson project
we worked on it for about six months when the NFL
owners decided to go with the Rams. Things went quiet
for a while then when the project went to Vegas, we
went through another selection process and brought
most of the team from Carson to Nevada,” explains
HNTB’s Nichols.
Designing for the desert
Before the stadium broke ground on November 13,
2017, up to 11 different sites in and around Vegas had
been looked at and assessed by the Raiders but it came
down to two possible choices – with each offering
benefits and drawbacks.
“Two sites were in equal favor – one was the site
they actually chose, the other site was the Bali High
Golf Course, which is just south of Mandalay Bay,”
describes Manica. “The one on Bali High site was
larger, had more room for parking and on the strip side
of the freeway, which had the benefit of accessibility.
However, the site that was selected is on the other side
of the freeway is smaller, which meant less parking, but
had spectacular views of the strip. I took the building
and put them on both sites using renderings and
animations. While the team liked the Bali High site,
it had no views of the strip. But when I put the stadium
on the other site, with the doors orientated towards the
strip, from a design standpoint there was no question.
Everyone loved how the building was located as part
of the strip, not behind it”.
Moving to a desert environment resulted in some
of the stadium’s original concepts requiring a radical
re-think, but this has brought about the opportunity
to introduce some new and exciting features. With the
extreme heat, the stadium could no longer be an openair
venue and had to be enclosed for air conditioning
to be used. The team initially discussed a retractable
roof, but Manica suggested something more innovative.
“I remember the day I encouraged the Raiders to
think about a retractable wall. Often in retractable roof
stadia when they are open, some people are
comfortable in the shade while others are baking the
direct sunlight. In Vegas, no matter how much air
conditioning is pumped through, the sun would
be impossible to overcome so we decided to do a
transparent ETFE roof and the opening window at
the peristyle end,” Manica recalls.
Covering an oculus of 550ft by 750ft, is seven acres
of translucent ETFE, which not only provides an
insulating quality but critically allows natural light into
the bowl for an outdoors feel without the searing heat.
Its lightweight attribute is also key for the build.
ETERNAL FLAME
The peristyle end will feature
an 85ft (26m) tall torch to
memorialize former Raiders
owner Al Davis, who died in
2011. It is the world’s largest
3D-printed structure and is
made out of carbon fiber
and aluminum. To provide the
realism of a real flame
designers used some
technological trickery.
“Obviously, we can’t put a
bonfire of flame inside a
building with a plastic roof in
the middle of the desert so we
used some sleight of hand
using light and vapor to make
it look real. We spent a lot of
time on the torch to make it
look magnificent when it’s
‘lit’,” explains David Manica.
Surrounding the torch will
be the Peristyle Club, a
55,000ft² premium offering
complete with bars, social
space and a place to look onto
the game.
(Main and right) The black
glass curtain wall is one
of the stadium’s striking
features. It offers sportscar
looks and helps keep the
stadium cool. To install it
with speed, pre-assembled
panel sets were used
ALLEGIANT STADIUM
16 www.stadia-magazine.com June 2020
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