Audi Field DC United Soccer Stadium Conceptual Design

The Stadium is located between 2nd Street and Half Street in Southwest Washington, DC, near the Anacostia River and the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge. The base of the stadium is activated by restaurants and retail venues, with a large entry ramp that leads to the mid-level of the seating area for the stadium. The field is oriented on a north–south direction, and the ramp and roof point back towards Potomac Avenue with a visual link to Nationals' Stadium. Enclosing the stadium from above is a large, canted metal and glass roof which floats and wraps itself around the seating areas for protection from the elements and allows for the field to remain open to the sky. In some areas, the roof folds down along the stadium becomes the vertical enclosure. A secondary roof system is layered under the large roof to offer additional protection to the spectators. At the concourse level, glass and metal screens create a layered envelope that is translucent in contrast to the solid form of the roof wrapping the stadium. A system of columns offers the support of the roof and roof members as well as the stadium seating and screen enclosures. From inside the stadium, spectators have a view out toward the Nationals' Stadium and the Capitol in one direction, and the Anacostia River in the opposite direction. The soccer stadium is in close proximity to the baseball stadium, a Metro line, and new residential and office developments. The stadium site itself has a portion that can be further developed with a hotel program. Both projects are important features in the ongoing renewal and development in this area of Washington, DC.