Rio Tinto Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah, is home to the Major League Soccer team Real Salt Lake. The roof of the 25,000-seat stadium was designed by the architects to be an iconic rolling canopy whose shape referenced the surrounding Wasatch Mountains. Fabricated from 70,000 square feet of PTFE-coated fiberglass, the roof’s translucency screens out UV and excess heat while still allowing natural light to reach seating areas. At night, the membrane becomes a stage for dramatic lighting effects that add visual excitement to the playing field. Lighting and speakers are embedded in the canopy, eliminating the need for lighting towers that would have cast shadows on the field and impeded television coverage of games. The PTFE membrane is highly durable and inherently sheds dirt and debris, ensuring it will look good for decades to come.
Structurflex worked with the architects from early concept stages through installation. By incorporating unique and flexible detailing, the roof installation was completed ahead of schedule, with no compromise in performance.
Press
“European touches create the Real thing in Utah,” SportsBusiness Daily Global Journal
“Rio Tinto Stadium reflects local support and pride,” Fabric Architecture Magazine
We are pleased to have collaborated with KieranTimberlake and the outfit of a parking structure on the Rice University Campus. In their blog post, they describe the concepts they employed to create an iconic sculptural element. For more details see the KieranTimberlake blog post.
The Increasing Importance of DurabilityWhile tensile fabric has several distinct advantages over more traditional materials like glass, one of the most important may be its ability to withstand severe weather events. Our tensile structures and tensile facades in Miami, Jacksonville, Houston, Fort Worth, Waco, and Atlanta did not sustain any damage or require any repair despite enduring events ranging […]
