Levi's Stadium Designed by HNTB in Santa Clara

Since I work in San Francisco, I have blogged about some San Francisco landmarks:

• Autodesk Gallery in San Francisco: Getting physical Exhibit [Salesforce Building]
• Transamerica Pyramid Building in San Francisco
• Coit Tower in San Francisco

Since I am originally from New Orleans, I blogged about the Louisiana Superdome.

• The Curtis and Davis-designed Superdome built by Blount International in Louisiana

This prompted a comment from my friend, Dave Jones.

OK, fair is fair! How about a post about our Levi's Stadium designed by HNTB of Santa Clara with Revit 2012? I (DDP, San Luis Obispo) happened to have had the pleasure of doing all of the curtain wall 3D modeling for the stadium also using R2012. Even at $165 million, the Superdome was cheap compared to the 49ers stadium cost of $1.2 billion! And Levi's stadium was constructed on schedule and on budget. Quite a feat these days...

I decided to oblige Dave's request. Like I did for other posts, for this post, I turned to Wikipedia to gather some information. Levi's Stadium is a football stadium (home to the NFL San Francsico 49ers) located in Santa Clara, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. Here is the culled and rearranged result.

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photo courtesy of Tim Barrios

Design

• In 2006, the 49ers initially proposed constructing a new stadium at Candlestick Point in San Francisco, the site of their existing home, Candlestick Park. The project, which included plans for retail space and housing improvements, was claimed to have been of great potential benefit to the nearby historically blighted neighborhood of Hunters Point. After negotiations with the city of San Francisco fell through, the 49ers focused their attention on a site adjacent to their administrative offices and training facility in Santa Clara.
• The stadium is located approximately 40 miles (64 km) from San Francisco and is named for Levi Strauss & Co., which purchased naming rights in 2013.
• The stadium was designed by HNTB, an internationally renowned architectural firm, with a focus on creating a multi-purpose venue and with the fan experience and green technology as top priorities.
• Levi's Stadium is designed as an open stadium with a natural grass field.
• The stadium has a seating capacity of 68,500, expandable to approximately 75,000 to host major events.
• The seating design of the stadium places approximately two-thirds of the fans in the lower bowl, which is one of the largest of its kind in the entire NFL.
• The design features significantly improved accessibility and seating options for fans with special needs and disabilities when compared to Candlestick Park.
• The configuration is similar to Ford Field, home of the NFL's Detroit Lions, with the majority of the luxury suites on one side of the field, which puts the fans in the upper deck closer to the action.
• As a multi-use facility, the stadium can be configured for special touring events including concerts, motocross events, indoor/outdoor conferences, and other community events.
• The stadium is also designed to meet the FIFA field geometry requirements for international soccer, which will allow it to host international friendly matches and major tournaments such as the FIFA World Cup.
• The stadium features over 109,000 square feet (10,100 m²) of flexible premium meeting space in the club areas.
• The stadium is also believed to be the first stadium that will have both a green roof and solar panels.
• Levi's Stadium has been praised for its excellent sightlines, beautiful architecture, plentiful amenities, technological advancements, convenient public transportation access, and environmental sustenance.

Make

• In June 2010, Santa Clara voters approved a measure authorizing the creation of the Santa Clara Stadium Authority, a tax-exempt public authority, to build and own the new football stadium and for the city government to lease land to the Santa Clara Stadium Authority.
• In December 2011, the Santa Clara City Council voted for an agreement that calls for the city's Stadium Authority to borrow $850 million from Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, and U.S. Bank. This covered most of the construction costs, with the remainder to be made up via funding from the NFL, a hotel tax, and city redevelopment funds.
• On February 2, 2012, NFL owners approved a loan to the 49ers of $200 million for use in constructing the new stadium, and to be taken from a new G-4 stadium loan fund.
• Construction began in April 2012.
• Civil engineering work was performed by Winzler & Kelly, which was acquired by GHD Group in 2011.
• The 49ers are exploring collaborative opportunities with the Environmental Protection Agency to explore environmentally friendly components including:
  • Use of an outside commissioning agent to verify that energy-related systems are installed, calibrated, and performing in compliance with the project requirements
  • Use of public transit nearby including VTA, ACE, Amtrak, with connection to a proposed future BART extension
  • Construction of a green roof (27,000± sf) and photovoltaic panels (20,000± sf)
  • Use of paving materials and roofing materials with a high solar reflectance index
  • Use of recycled water for landscape irrigation, toilets, and urinals along with water-conserving fixtures
  • No use of CFC-based refrigerants in the HVAC systems. Systems will instead use refrigerants that minimize compounds that contribute to ozone depletion
  • Installation of permanent monitoring systems that provide feedback on ventilation system performance
  • Diversion, recycling, and/or salvaging 75% of non-hazardous construction waste
  • Use of controllable and programmable lighting control systems and thermal comfort control systems
• The stadium is currently one of the largest buildings registered with the U.S. Green Building Council.
• Levi's Stadium received a Gold LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certificate. It is the first professional football stadium in the United States to receive this certification as new construction.

Use

• Levi's Stadium opened on July 17, 2014.
• Commissioning services were provided by Glumac.
• The stadium has served as the home of the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League since 2014.
• Levi's Stadium hosted Super Bowl 50 on February 7, 2016.
• Levi's Stadium also serves as the site of the Pac-12 Football Championship Game for at least three years, beginning in 2014.
• The stadium has created an in stadium app designed specifically for home football games for the 49ers to provide a better fan experience for fans and guests.

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I have been to Levi's Stadium once. It had a happy ending.

Growing up in New Orleans where the Saints and 49ers were division rivals, I can never be a 49ers fan; however, I have no problem admiring their stadium.

A stadium is alive in the lab.