All-season canopy for L.A. Rams stadium

Before Dallas, Texas-based HKS Architects developed a design proposal for a new 3.1 million-square-foot multipurpose venue and stadium in Los Angeles, the company did a California reconnoiter. “Homes and restaurants in the region have areas that flow from indoors to outdoors, with glass doors that open to patio spaces for outdoor living,” says Mark A. Williams, HKS principal and director of business development. The St. Louis Rams move to L.A. for the 2016 National Football League (NFL) season, and the stadium will be the iconic centerpiece of a proposed 298-acre, $3 billion NFL entertainment district.

For year-round events, the stadium features a transparent ETFE canopy covering nearly 19 acres. The canopy allows all sides of the building to remain open to the air, allowing natural breezes to pass through while protecting the up to 80,000 patrons from inclement weather. ETFE is an extremely strong copolymer resin that is extruded into a thin film. Lightweight and transparent, it doesn’t hold dust or dirt and ETFE film systems can incorporate a number of patterns on one or multiple layers to alter solar performance.