Overview
Austin FC’s Q2 Stadium is preparing to open for fans on June 19th and everyone is ready! KXAN’s Tom Miller recently toured the stadium with Walter P Moore’s Senior Project Manager, Mark Waggoner, and Gensler’s Design Director, Jonathan Emmett.
Once construction began in January 2020, the race against the clock was on. In order to allow the grass enough time to grow and establish itself, the roof needed to be completed by August.
“We basically build the entire roof, every bolt, every weld in a computer model first,” said Walter P Moore Principal Engineer Mark Waggoner. “Then we were able to hand that off to the contractors, who were able to emulate that in real life.”
In addition to being designed for shade, and allowing the breeze to blow through, the roof serves one other key function – keeping the stadium loud.
“The metal will really bounce the sounds back down to the fans,” Waggoner said. “I know the fans are going to be super loud out here, and it’s going to be a tough environment for the opponents.”
Outside of the roof, nearly everywhere you look, there’s green.
In addition to the stunning pitch, the seats are green too. All 20,500 of them.
Perhaps the real X-factor is the supporters section, a standing room only end of the field where all the chairs will be zip tied closed, forcing fans to stand.
