Each of the 34,789 triangular panels that make up LA’s SoFi Stadium exterior are unique – creating a logistical frenzy for contractors in the design and construction process.
The 2022 host of the Super Bowl, which first opened in September 2020, was designed by HKS. They turned to A. Zahner Company to manufacture aluminum panels to side the translucent ETFE membrane-topped stadium – each anodized to a custom frost white finish with 20 million uniquely placed perforations.
Zahner produced 512 panels per week over 67 weeks.
“It was quite a challenge to create a system to be able to design those, program those and manufacture those in an efficient method,” says Jordan Caldwell, a process engineer with Zahner.
He adds: “It took collaboration between the design team, between the engineering team, between the machine manufacturers, all the way down to the production crew on the floor to actually make this work.”
Other notable exterior projects that Zahner has done include the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle. SoFi adds to the growing docket of “extraordinary projects” Zahner is undertaking, says Zahner’s Chief Marketing Officer Ryan Sutton.
To learn more about how the project used the latest technology in architectural sheet metal to protect stadium attendants from heat stress and nearby airplanes instrument-disrupting shine, watch the following Ask the Expert video with Sutton.
