ESPN Inside Slant: How to match Seahawks' home-field adv.

[NJSeahawk]

http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/p...nt-how-to-match-seahawks-home-field-advantage

good luck matching that :49ersmall: :49ersmall: :49ersmall: :49ersmall: :49ersmall: :49ersmall: :49ersmall:



"As he set about designing a new stadium for the Seattle Seahawks, architect Paul Griesemer juggled a series of requests and realities. Seahawks owner Paul Allen wanted an homage to nearby Husky Stadium, where fans are close to the field. A relatively tiny footprint mandated steep inclines to squeeze in 67,000 seats. Seattle's rainy weather prompted a metal covering that protected 70 percent of the seating bowl.

The result is a structure that provides the loudest and most effective home-field advantage in U.S. sports today. And to me, it yields an obvious question: Why aren't designers elsewhere emulating the conditions at CenturyLink Field -- accidental as they might have been, in some cases -- to give their teams a similar advantage? The question is especially significant, of course, as the Seahawks' NFC West rivals prepare Levi's Stadium for its regular-season debut Sunday night.

The answer is not as simple as the question. I've spoken recently with three designers, including Griesemer as well as architects for the San Francisco 49ers' and Minnesota Vikings' new stadiums, and found that psychology is as important as architecture in creating an in-house environment. "




There is only one...

 

[Blitzer88]

That is a pretty sweet pic right there.

 

[NJSeahawk]

That is a pretty sweet pic right there.

Cheers for that, the pic that accompanied the story was underwhelming. :34853_doh:

 

[Lxx]

Im sure if santa clara wanted to they couldve paid for some top dollar engineers to create a louder stadium but nope.

 

[chris98251]

See the resemblance here, not the same angle but similar.

 

[Subzero717]

Im sure if santa clara wanted to they couldve paid for some top dollar engineers to create a louder stadium but nope.

They would had to paid fans too.

 

[ivotuk]

See the resemblance here, not the same angle but similar.

I was driving by Husky stadium years ago in stop and go traffic, just checking it out, and they must have scored because everyone in the stadium jumped up at once. It was so bizarre looking because something that looked not-so-big from a distance, but that you knew was a mass of humanity just erupted. It's one of those memories that sticks with you.

 

[Seahawks Guy]

I've wondered the same thing.

Question - Has anyone ever read or heard anything about how much the stadium design actually contributes to noise? Like, maybe something involving physics and stuff (I don't know).

 

[AVL]

It's the fans more than the structure. Look at what happened in February.




Most of these closed stadiums could be louder if filled with Hawks fans.

 

[NJSeahawk]

I've wondered the same thing.

Question - Has anyone ever read or heard anything about how much the stadium design actually contributes to noise? Like, maybe something involving physics and stuff (I don't know).

Check this link out
http://www.businessinsider.com/seattle-seahawks-stadium-loud-2014-1

Paul Greisemer, the architectural director who designed the stadium for AECOM, says it comes down to three factors — the roof, the closed quarters, and the materials.

He explained the architecture behind the noise in an interview ith KIRO Radio:

"Well, it was built to be a great home field advantage. The fact that it is loud is really kind of a result of a number of things that came about just through the design. It's on a very small site, comparatively to other stadiums, and because of that we had to compress the building very tightly. Fans are closer to the field than they are in most any NFL stadium today. So that combined with the desire to have a large roof covering, so fans are protected, really kind of combined the greatest of convergence of storms into a great environment."

He also said the curvature of the roof, along with the materials the stadium is made of — metal and concrete — reflect the sound better:

"It's a metal roof so it naturally is a very reflective surface. As is the seating bowl which is largely concrete. So there are a lot of those materials that are serving as sound mirrors, if you will, and bouncing the sound right back. ... The way the roof is angled, and the way the bowl captures all the sound that goes backwards and focuses it back towards the center of the stadium, you're pretty much going to get the maximum affect right at the players."

The two overhanging roofs basically act as noise catchers, deflecting the cheers from below back toward the century of the field.