Globe Life Field

To have an open-air feel, the ballpark needed a retractable long span roof that could open and close in a matter of minutes to let in daylight while also shielding against storms and sweltering hot summers.

On a site that sloped 40 feet up from northwest to southeast with unbalanced soil loads, the ballpark’s structure had to support a mix of traditional and contemporary facade materials.

The structure required a multi-tiered seating bowl to bring fans as close to the action as possible and provide unhindered lines of sight to the field. 

The ballpark’s structure had to accommodate two 360-degree concourses, luxury viewer experiences, and larger-than-usual video boards while ensuring that fans had clear views of the field. 

The first game at the new stadium was scheduled for a date just 38 months after design work began in 2017. The project’s scale also demanded that multiple engineers work on different sections simultaneously.

To ensure the roof could be “parked” at any point on the rail, we studied it at each stage of closure in our analysis model. The final roof design comprises two rail truss structures, a movable section, two fixed roofs, and a 650 feet x 180 feet ETFE “racing stripe” to let natural light in. 

We used a 4,000-feet-long soil nail wall as a retention system along the ballpark’s lower levels while steel girts, columns, and vertical trusses support the facade’s curtain walls, metal panels, ETFE, brick, and 18 soaring 100-foot-tall Texas limestone-clad arches.

In the seven-tier seating bowl, we used multi-story cantilevered trusses to remove obstructing columns. Elements like a massive steel trussed column and a set of planar trusses support sections of the seating bowl without hindering sightlines to the field.

We incorporated concealed supports for the video boards, using vertical and diagonal trusses. Designing structural columns, braces, and shear walls to slope away from the field and placing concessions and restrooms at the edges of the concourses removed visual obstructions. 

With the aid of a program script, we allowed engineers on different teams to plug-in and check out changes in the structural analysis model which helped optimize workflows.

Spanning 420 feet by 680 feet while incorporating 19,000 tons of steel, Globe Life Field has the world’s largest single-panel operable roof, which can cover 400 feet in 12 minutes. The roof’s ETFE elements also allow ample daylight into the stadium to create an open-air feel inside.

The brick facade, curtain walls, and monumental arches are the most prominent architectural features in the arena’s design, which pay homage to the design of the original Globe Life Park.

The stacked seating bowl features seven distinct “front row experiences” and Walter P Moore’s structural innovation allowed 70% of the seating to be located between the foul poles with clear sightlines to the field.

The structural design seamlessly integrated the venue’s video boards into its game day experience and ensured that the action is visible from the concourses, to keep fans immersed throughout the game.

Accelerated structural design package delivery allowed for early material procurement and rapid erection, which was key to opening within the 38-month time frame.