"They
did more than build a football field, they built a site, a part of the
city of Cincinnati," said the jury of the Cincinnati Bengal's Paul
Brown Stadium, designed by NBBJ. The Bengals' prior home facility was
among the smallest and least economically productive National Football
League stadiums. For nearly a decade, the team's principal business goal
was to improve on the revenue-producing capabilities of the home facility.
Architect
and client agreed that the project's primary goals were to create a new
facility that would meet current operational and economic needs, provide
architectural flexibility to accommodate future changes dictated by economics,
and create a structure that would be an architecturally significant addition
to the city's skyline.
Over the four years leading up to the new facility's opening, the client
worked closely with NBBJ and government partners to develop a facility
exceeding the client's primary goals. Architect and client met every several
weeks to review and rework the design development.
The facility's
revenue-generating capabilities have brought the Cincinnati Bengals back
to being competitive with other teams in its league. Superb sight lines
within the 67,000-seat stadium have many fans and the press remarking
that there are no bad seats. The design also incorporates 116 suites,
6 party suites, and a number of clubs that have become known as spectacular
spots for hundreds of events per year, from high school proms to office
holiday parties. The facility also does its civic duty by contributing
the Cincinnati skyline: its soaring, cantilevered steel roof already has
become a defining element of the city. "It's a very inventive building
that has to do a lot of things and accommodate many people, but it also
has a life of its own," concluded the jury.
Copyright 2002 The American Institute of Architects.
All rights reserved.
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