Allianz Field

“Because people inside the stadium can also see the changing light on the exterior, they can enjoy the experience in a different way.” —Juror Raymond Barberousse, Studio PGRB

When tasked with creating a dynamic facade for Allianz Field, a Major League Soccer stadium in Minneapolis, ME Engineers’ lighting design studio Illume aimed to recreate the aurora borealis, with blues, greens, and purples flowing across the stadium’s PTFE skin. The lighting control system can replicate the team’s colors or be customized for holidays, special events, and the excitement and energy of the fans inside and outside the stadium.

To create the dramatic effect, the design deploys an incrementally brighter segment of light at each structural member across the stadium’s curved skin. The design solution works for all façade conditions, including open corner entrances and areas tight to the structure.

James Ewing
Luminaires behind the PTFE skin create a simple glow from within and provide a visually comfortable, low glare approach.

James Ewing
The effect is brighter inside the stadium, which creates an engaging fan experience. Custom shields and precise aiming prevent any direct view of the fixtures themselves.

The team grouped the control gear at key points at the stadium’s exterior rather than throughout the stadium, which made the initial lighting setup easier and will help stadium operations staff identify and address issues.

With more than 6,100 linear feet of fixtures, the lighting design was considerable and prioritized during the construction of the stadium, designed by Populous. Still, to reduce cost and wattage usage, the team determined through a mock-up that increasing the gap between adjacent structural elements by 4 inches top would be imperceptible and save almost 20% in cost and energy consumption. Lighting scenes are programmed to start just after dusk and not stay on all night.

James Ewing
In-grade uplights with a wide wall wash distribution illuminate the UNITED sculpture, a part of the overall façade composition.

courtesy Illume and Populous
Renderings and animations helped convey design intent and programming possibilities to the client and ownership group.

courtesy Illume and Populous
Sample lighting animations help determine the final programming scenes.

James Ewing
Installing more than 1 mile of fixtures and ensuring control box locations were accessible were among the project's toughest challenges.

James Ewing
The canopy captures the lighting at top, helping to preserve the dark sky.

James Ewing
Fixtures are integrated into the architecture of the building. Custom shields block direct view of diodes and carefully manage the light spill onto the structure.

James Ewing
Each fixture has a resolution controllable to the foot. Time-clock control and non-game scenes help save energy.

Details
Project Name: Allianz Field
Location: St. Paul, Minn.
Client/Owner: Minnesota United FC
Owner’s Representative: Tegra Group
Lighting Designer: Illume, Golden, Colo. • David Riffel, Ryan Linton
Architect: Populous, Kansas City, Mo. • Bruce Miller, AIA, Mike Donovan, AIA, Phil Kolbo, AIA, Mitchell Brown, AIA
Architect of Record: Populous
Interior Designer: Populous
Structural Engineer: Walter P. Moore
Mechanical Engineer: ME Engineers
Electrical Engineer: ME Engineers
Plumbing Engineer: ME Engineers
Civil Engineer: Loucks
Geotechnical Engineer: Braun Intertec
Construction Manager: M.A. Mortenson Co.
General Contractor: M.A. Mortenson Co.
Electrical Contractor: Gephart Electric
Landscape Architect: Populous
Photographers: James Ewing, Alise O-Brien, Ryan Linton, Daniel Claxton

Project Size: 88,000 square feet
Project Cost: $150,000,000
Lighting Cost: $4,990,000
Watts per Square Foot: 0.76
Code Compliance: 2015 Minnesota Building Code
Lighting Product Manufacturers: Color Kinetics, We-ef, Erco