ROOFING PRODUCTS & SERVICES
Transforming experience: Texlon ETFE is
redefining today’s stadium by offering more
creative designs, comfort and sustainability
Stadium and arena design is ever
evolving with new innovation. As
part of this, the comfort and
experiences of the individuals in
these venues is the overall goal
of stadium and team owners, and those
attendees will always have opinions about
which stadia are the best, regardless of the
sports team that plays there.
Over the last five years, the stadium
industry in the United States has seen the rise
of a new design and construction trend using
Texlon ETFE (ethylene tetrafluoroethylene)
technology to help create sustainable, cost
efficient, lightweight, high performance
transparent building envelopes. Pioneered
and developed by Vector Foiltec over the
past 35 years, the innovative material has
been an integral part of the transformation
of stadia, both old and new.
U.S. Bank Stadium, home to the NFL’s
Minnesota Vikings, was the first professional
sports stadium in the United States to
incorporate ETFE into a roof design, where
240,000ft2 (22,296m2) of the material was
used. By utilizing Vector Foiltec’s transparent
Texlon ETFE system for 60% of the roof at U.S.
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Bank Stadium, this marked a new era in
stadium construction. This ETFE roof allows
sunlight in, but simultaneously keeps snow,
rain, cold and heat out, to ensure fan comfort.
Not only are arenas and stadia using ETFE
technology for their roof enclosures, but for
canopies and facades as well. Little Caesars
Arena, home of the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings,
utilized ETFE in the concourse area, between
the arena and adjacent retail and office
space. The Texlon ETFE covers 44,000ft2
(4,087m2) on the east and south sides. This
enables fans to feel as though they are in an
outdoor promenade with views of the sky,
but they are protected from the outside
elements. Enclosing this area helps to ensure
this retail area is active before, during and
after games, regardless of the weather.
Another stadium that has incorporated
ETFE as a canopy and façade is Banc of
California Stadium, home of Major League
Soccer’s Los Angeles Football Club. This
specialized single layer ETFE system covers
the seating area, protecting fans from the hot
Los Angeles sun, while also simultaneously
protecting from rain, when that actually
occurs in SoCal.
Material gains
Vector Foiltec’s most recent stadium projects,
in 2020, include Globe Life Field, the new
home of the MLB’s Texas Rangers, Hayward
Field at the University of Oregon, and
Allegiant Stadium, new home of the NFL’s
Las Vegas Raiders. Each of these stadia uses
ETFE with their own unique design elements
incorporated into canopies, façades, an
enclosed operable roof, and a full enclosed
ETFE roof.
With stadia now becoming multifaceted
destinations, where venues such as
professional and collegiate sports teams are
sharing their space for special events and
musical concerts, or Olympic stadia
transformed into usable spaces following the
Games. Vector Foiltec continues to partner
with clients to engineer, design and install
Texlon ETFE projects that are both innovative
and elegant. n
U.S. Bank Stadium
Little Caesar’s Arena
Banc of California Stadium
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