"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.