TIMBERWOLVES NBA ARENA

During this comprehensive studio in a team of four we worked together to create a new NBA arena design for the Target Arena in Minneapolis, MN home of the Timberwolves. To achieve a large and complex structure our studio worked exclusive with several sports firms located in Kansas City, MO. With each firm we completed smaller scale projects that exposed us to programmatic elements, calculation of sightlines, and spaces plans, all needed to understand the most basic of arena and stadium design.

Our team developed three key concepts when it came to the design of our arena. One being that innovate design was demonstrated and present for our new arena. The current Target Arena was due for a major update for all of it’s facilities. In addition to this our site was quite smaller than most NBA arenas requiring a creative approach. The second concept being that we needed to establish a series of 24/7 branding opportunities incorporated throughout our design. Our final concept was Destination: Minneapolis meaning a place for both locals and tourists to gather for a series of different events outside of sports.

The heavy amount of pedestrian traffic came as a challenge to overcome. Our team analyzed on how we could improved the relationship to the street especially when it came to the interaction with pedestrians. Additionally, we surveyed the amount of entry ways amongst patrons. We discovered that over 8,000 people use the skyways throughout Minneapolis and saw as an opportunity to incorporate is within our design.

In our final design we rotated our bowl to provide more square footage for public space both inside and outside of the arena. Our design included a series of unique arena concepts such as our triple story club, 24/7 atrium space, and open views from the bowl to the city of Minneapolis.

Building Skin