The Jacksonville Jaguars hired architecture firm HOK to serve as a design consultant for a proposed renovation of TIAA Bank Field, team president Mark Lamping told VenuesNow last week.
“This is not a project yet,” Lamping told VenuesNow. “We wanted to be in a place where we knew what the renovated stadium could look like and how do you renovate while still trying to play NFL games. We’re in a good spot. If we do go forward, we will essentially end up with a new stadium built on the existing structure.”
In October, Lamping told the Florida Times-Union that the Jaguars were in the preliminary stages of designing renovations at the team’s stadium. According to VenuesNow, HOK won the job over seven competitors that all submitted preliminary concepts for the work.
The Jaguars have played at TIAA Bank Field since their first season in the NFL in 1995. In the nearly three decades since it opened, the stadium has undergone a few renovations including the construction of 362-foot scoreboards and swimming pools.
At the top of the list of priorities this time is the construction of a shade roof.
“One of the things that we found that we have confidence in is just how comfortable a stadium can be that has a full roof, if you’re sensitive to air flow,” Lamping said. “We don’t need a climate-controlled building in Jacksonville any more than they need one in LA, but we do need shade on all the seats and protection from the rain if we hope to increase the amount of non-NFL business that we can give back to the stadium.”
Among previous NFL work for HOK was Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ, and the recent renovation to add a roof canopy at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
