Q2 Stadium

Project Details

Project Description

The new stadium for Austin FC was delivered with Walter P Moore’s multi-discipline service approach, complete with structural engineering, enclosure engineering, water proofing consulting, construction engineering, and Whole Building Life Cycle Assessment (WBLCA).

Q2 Stadium can host up to 20,500 fans for a match, and features the second largest roof for an MLS stadium. The canopy enclosure features a combination of customized curved metal panel systems on the bullnose, soffit, and edges; and single-ply roofing on the top side of the canopy at the north and south end to provide protection to a stage.

The roof is a cable supported structure—a first for an MLS stadium—is supported by four 100-foot-tall columns. The cable system was utilized at the north and south ends of the stadium to reduce structural tonnage and achieve the floating corners. Additionally, the orientation of the stadium is designed to pull in breezes from open corners, which helps keep the lower bowl cooler for the fans and players.

Walter P Moore provided consulting services to Gensler, the project architect, on a variety of systems including glazing, metal and timber-composite rain-screens, as well as traditional masonry and cement plaster systems.

Given the demanding schedule—approximately 22 months—Walter P Moore’s construction engineering team developed an LOD 400 steel fabrication model using Tekla software alongside the design team in a parallel process. The integrated delivery process spearheaded by Walter P Moore centered around the LOD 400 steel model, and allowed for steel detailing to be completed while overlapping structural and connection design. This resulted in an overall schedule savings of approximately three months.

Q2 Stadium is the first MLS stadium to use WBLCA to environmentally optimize the structure and enclosure and reduce embodied carbon. The WBLCA illustrated the environmental savings achieved through the use of a cable system to support portions of the roof, as well as optimizations to the concrete mix designs.