U.S. Bank Stadium

Minneapolis, MN
Construction Cost: 1.1 Billion
Area / Square Feet: 1.7 million sf
Occupancy Date: June 2016

Located in downtown Minneapolis and home to the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings, U.S. Bank Stadium is an urban, multipurpose venue with a design that reflects the culture, climate and context of its city. The stadium was designed to host prominent sporting events such as the Super Bowl, the NCAA Final Four and the ESPN X Games. Additionally, the stadium is a year-round venue that will host concerts, high school and college athletics, conventions and festivals.

Vikings fans experience the game like never before with the closest seats (first row just 41 feet from the sideline) and suites (turf suites just 25 feet from the sideline) in the NFL. The stadium has approximately 9,300 club seats within six different club spaces, which offer exclusive and upscale stadium experiences and priority access to purchase seats for other select stadium events.

To create the atmosphere of an open-air stadium while remaining cost-conscious, architects proposed a transparent, lightweight ETFE roof that would protect the interior from snow, maintain great sightlines toward the city, and illuminate the interior with natural light. In addition, its form creates a lofted interior “heat reservoir” that stores solar heat, which in turn acts as a natural snow-melt system. The overall design reduces energy usage by 16 percent by way of heat recovery, air-handling units, ventilation and high-efficiency motors, and also reduces lighting energy by 26 percent using LED sports lighting.

Judge's Comments

"Monumental, striking and memorable. The sheer scale of this powerful abstract Viking form is impressive and bigger than life. Hard not to be consumed by all this facility has to offer the fan experience on game day." — Troy Sherrard

"Dramatic design derived from a concept connecting the history of the Vikings and Nordic design to a bold and aggressive modern facility." — Kalman Nagy

"Creative seating bowl and long-span solution. I appreciate the fresh approach to the building type. A bold form that derives from the local climate and Viking precedents." — Stephen Sefton

U.S. BANK STADIUM