Kyle Field renovation

A month before the Dec. 21, 2014, implosion of the west side of Kyle Field, the A&M System, Manhattan-Vaughn Construction and Populous, the architectural … It was a patchwork of design and wasn’t really tied at all as a unified station.”The design was lacking. “Most large projects come with a series of challenges,” says Craig Kaufman, principal at Populous, the architect for the project. SPORTS ILLUSTRATED is a registered trademark of ABG-SI LLC. 2013: Texas A&M received aproval from Board of Regents to proceed with $450 million redevelopment of Kyle Field.

Completed in 2015, Kyle Field represents the most extensive redevelopment of a collegiate athletic facility ever. “By starting from scratch we didn’t have to live with the structure and bones already there,” Kaufman says.And, oh, don’t forget that Kyle Field also now boasts the second To diversify the west side’s offerings, new types of premium space include the over-the-top founders’ suites and new field box suites with traditional close-to-field seating.To help build on the passion found at the original home of the 12th Man, Populous dropped the field seven feet to allow the addition of six more rows all the way around the field, bringing seats closer to the field.

Precast concrete was therefore “a perfect match for our design objectives.”Consulting Engineers Group (CEG), San Antonio, Tex.

The $485 million, 26-month redevelopment project included completely rebuilding the college stadium in two phases to expand capacity to 102,733 seats, making the stadium one of the five largest in collegiate football. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy “Precast concrete seating and exterior components were the most cost-efficient, durable, and aesthetically pleasing products on the market,” Kauffman says. New canopies on the east and west sides not only provide shade, but also reflect crowd noise back onto the field. Populous and Manhattan-Vaughn JV (the construction team) were challenged to find creative ways to reduce cost and risk over the project’s 26-month timeline, which covered two active football seasons. Here is a rendering of Kyle Field after it is renovated. Inspired by the theme “The Home of the 12th Man,” this project embodies the belief that at Texas A&M, fans don’t just watch the game, they affect the game. “Over decades there have been pieces here and there added and changed and modified. The renovation would temporarily raise the official seating capacity to 106,511 people for the 2014 season, making it the largest football stadium in Texas and the SEC (surpassing Neyland Stadium by 57 seats) and the third largest football stadium in the country. The updated stadium has 102,500 seats and a set of luxury suites. Along with meeting deadlines, the owners wanted to be sure the design reflected the expectations of the fans. The architectural precaster worked with the brick manufacturer early in the process, which provided a competitive advantage that allowed the precaster to produce slightly ahead of the schedule requirement. We sold all 102,000 tickets in 18 minutes.”And those 102,000 folks will filter into the completely overhauled Kyle Field in College Station, Sharp says the renovation’s most important piece was making the building symmetrical, building a true bowl. After renovation, Texas A&M's Kyle Field is now the largest in the SEC. The $485 million, 26-month redevelopment project included completely rebuilding the college stadium in two phases to expand capacity to 102,733 seats, making the stadium one of the five largest in collegiate football. © 2020 ABG-SI LLC. All the concourses were redone on the east side, changing the entire feel of the side. Earl Santee, Founder and Senior Principal at Populous, said it is highly unusual for a project of this size to come in under budget.

“If this renovation had occurred 100 years ago, it would have been all cast-in-place and hand-laid brick,” Kaufman notes. Kaufman notes that the structural precast concrete seating sections were prefabricated during the football season and delivered to the site for installation as soon as the whistle blew on the last game of the season. The new and improved stadium is slated to seat 102,500, and Texas A&M officials are hoping it will be completed by August 2015. “Folks didn’t think we could fill up a 102,000-seat stadium.

In the south, where a few bleachers blocked an otherwise wide-open end, Populous filled in the design, making Kyle Field a true symmetrical bowl. On May 1, 2013, the Texas A&M Board of Regents approved a $485 million rebuild of Kyle Field. Inspired by the theme “The Home of the 12th Man,” this project embodies the belief that at Texas A&M, fans … Texas A&M's Kyle Field just underwent a major renovation that modernized the stadium, which dates from 1927, and for the first time connected its four sections with three levels of public concourses. The $485 million, 18-month project changed that.Nearly 90 percent of the stadium stands new, Kaufman says. "This morning I thought about all the wonderful players that I had the opportunity to work with, as well as a bunch of coaches that I spent hours with in that stadium [who] are no longer here," Slocum said, The cost to rebuild the west side alone costs $100 million, project officials said.

Kyle Field's Hall of Champions is designed to host a variety of events throughout the year.

On the east side, which was done prior to last season, the existing three-deck seating welcomed a new lower deck, leaving the upper two in place. Gig 'em! Student seating changes makes Kyle Field capacity 82,589. The renovation of Kyle Field will include increasing the number of premium seats, each of which will require a significant donation each year. The most impressive space, Kaufman says, comes at the ground floor, where, at longer than a football field and three stories tall, comes a new Hall of Fame space.The school plans to use the space—the largest open space the university has—throughout the year for everything from wedding banquets to large lectures.Flowing up from the Hall of Fame space comes the majority of premium areas, including 12 founders’ suites, field boxes, an alumni section, legacy suites and more. For Craig Kaufman, the Populous architect on the project, just bringing the stadium up to standards was a major step. The functionality was less than stellar.