by Doug Barnes, Tod Lindberg and David Rusk
As those who have been highly involved in helping the stadium get approved by the DC government, we offer these following thoughts on the preliminary stadium design. To try to come to a better understanding of what the pictures might mean, we have looked at the new rendering pretty closely in conjunction with a careful examination of the architects’ words about the project. These are just our opinions; we have no inside information.
Some things to keep in mind about the stadium renderings. The plans were drawn up in less than a month. DC United management was meeting a District submission deadline, and probably pushed the architects to come up with something they could present to keep the land negotiations moving forward. DC United has nothing on its website about these preliminary drawings. This probably means they are waiting to release drawings that are more complete.
"The design team’s initial approach to the overall aesthetic and form is a direct response to the site constraints and location." The space at Buzzard Point is rather limited. This seems to have been a big concern of the architect and may be the reason for the open space and exposed steel holding up the stands. A closed-in stadium might make the space feel claustrophobic, somewhat of a massive brick right in the middle of future lively shops, restaurants and other buildings.
"The goal of this building is to address the Potomac Street edge in an active and engaging manner that creates a pedestrian level building front... The positioning of this tall element becomes a beacon on the Potomac corridor." We love the way the stadium is situated in a very tight space. The architect takes advantage of the views of the Potomac Avenue corridor, which hopefully will be closed off on game day and the site of many memorable marches to the game. The game day plaza in front of the northeast corner of the stadium with food trucks will be very lively and make a great gathering place. If the district comes through with the small parks urban design of Buzzard Point and the Anacostia bicycle/walking trail along the river, then there will be staging/gathering areas for fans interspersed hopefully with lively restaurants and bars.
"A base of substantial material will provide a foundation for planes of glass to shear through the air while corrugated and perforated metal panels will capture shadow and provide depth." The erector set look and the corrugated metal have been a big topic of discussion. On the East side the roof is going to float over the seats, suites, and concession stands. This is a nice design. The feeling walking along at ground level will be open and not closed as the architects indicated that there will be decorative fences defining the boundary lines of the stadium. Concessions will be tucked under the stands and might be open behind the stands. A concern is that the space for the concessions looks constrained from the drawings, especially in the west side. Right now when there are 20,000 people at RFK on two levels, the concessions lines fill up the open space and it is not pleasant. Depending on the numbers served, a solution would be two levels of entry to the stands on both the east and the west side (which involve a rather long walk to the top anyway) to spread out the patrons. Another option is just to make sure the space is wide enough to accommodate maximum capacity of fans. This might make the stadium more visually pleasing as well (see the part of plans with the suites). Accommodating concession areas (which directly benefit the bottom line) hopefully will be fleshed out in the next set of plans. We would suggest perhaps putting the concessions on the outside of the stadium footprint (under the highest point of the stands), so that for those waiting in line for refreshments the underside of the stands above would appear almost like a vaulted ceiling (as opposed to fans looking inward towards the field side of the stands).
"Through the design effort with these materials it will become a sophisticated, sharp, creative piece of architecture that fits the place and community." Although it looks a bit spindly in these drawing, with the proper use of materials the architects could make the ground level structures look solid supporting the soaring upper space (stands). We have our reservations about the corrugated metal and the open seats providing contrast between light and dark. Can they pull this off in visually pleasing way? Can they make it sharp and creative? We will have to wait and see how this pans out with later drawings.
"Essential program spaces (clubs, suites, fan amenities) are located on the east sideline centered on S St. to align with the connection to the river taking advantage of the view corridor shown in the Buzzard Point redevelopment plan." If you look at the plans closely, there are large windows on the East side of the stadium that will probably be the club area for the stadium. Once again this reflects the open design that permeates the concept drawings. This may be a disappointment for some wanting a closed cauldron of fan experience. However, as indicated above, this might be replicated on other sides of the building with open space and concessions to accommodate fans on the upper levels. This will no doubt cost more and be challenging, but it would also mitigate that flying slab impressions of the stadium drawings as they are presented. Again, in the current drawings the concession and restroom areas seem rather cramped given the number of people that will attend games. We would hope that the architect provides a good fan amenity environment for those fans not in the club or suite seating.
"The north end building structure is home to player facilities, ticketing, team store, supporters seating sections, supporters bar, suites, and team offices." This is going to be a lively area on game day spilling out beyond the stadium to the open plaza at the front of the stadium. This is our favorite part of the conceptual drawings.
"Through an extensive sun study it was determined that the additional height protected fans during prime match hours providing a better fan experience." This statement encourages us and we hope that this is an indication that the architect will pay attention to the details of the setting. We would also suggest that if possible it would be good not to have too much half-shade and half-sunlight on the field during afternoon televised games.
"The west sideline facing Fort McNair is intended to shield views of the fort while the higher elevation of the canopy is to provide shade for the east seating stands." The views of Fort McNair are not that interesting, and the plans therefore focus the stadium inwards for this element. Also, perhaps this is an area to be expanded later with a second deck.
By comparison, the original designs look more sweeping and carry with them a more closed-in feeling for the stadium. However, in such a small close space, this might actually be somewhat of a liability. The more open design feels cheaper, with the long floating diagonal planes of the seats combined with the vertical beams and trusses. However, in such a close space and with the proper combinations of and thickness of materials and supporting structures below, this new concept could emphasize openness in the fan amenity areas and concession stands along with a somewhat closed-in feeling in the seats created by the overhangs.
We think the discussion by B&RU readers of these existing concept drawings has been very lively and helpful. It would behoove DC United to ask for reactions to the new stadium design options once they are comfortable with the work of the architect (which obviously is still a work in progress). This does not mean they have to fulfill all fan desires. But it is important to make the fans happy because over the 20-30 year lifespan of the stadium the fans will eventually vote with their feet.
