SoFi Stadium

SoFi Stadium is located just 500 yards away from the active Newport-Inglewood fault line, which created significant seismic challenges that the engineers needed to resolve. 

The site was just three miles away from Los Angeles International Airport, and the structure had to comply with height restrictions since it was below two flight approach paths. 

The design of the stadium seating bowl needed to account for thermal loads and dynamic seismic loading without large seismic joints, to maintain uninterrupted concourses on the upper levels, permitting clear sightlines and smooth patron movement.

The curved roof shell had to be optimized for fabrication and assembly while also serving multiple functions, from shading the structure’s three venues, to supporting the distinctive suspended videoboard.

We conducted a geotechnical analysis of soil behavior and soil-structure interaction (SSI) analysis to create three decoupled structural systems comprising a mechanically stabilized earth wall (MSE), triple pendulum roof dampers, and the stadium bowl, to deal with seismic loads independently. 

To adhere to height requirements, we sunk the seating bowl 100 feet below ground level and used a 260,000-square-foot MSE wall of the same height to separate the structure from the surrounding soil.

Walter P Moore used a combination of buckling resistant braces (BRBs) and lockup devices (LUDs) to manage seismic and thermal loads in the seating bowl without large joints or any interruptions in sightlines and concourse functions.

We devised a roof assembly consisting of a massive cablenet structure and ETFE panels broken down into 60 square foot “picture frame” sections to optimize passive ventilation strategies along with fabrication and erection methods. A lightweight long-span cable net structure was also used to suspend the videoboard.