Mercedes-benz stadium*

Erleen served as Principal-in-Charge at Buro Happold for the new home of the Atlanta Falcons, leading the development of a structural solution that achieves the stadium’s 8-piece retractable roof. The roof was conceived as a major design element that would both optimize year-round operations and establish the stadium as a premier attraction in Atlanta. Erleen worked closely with the architecture teams and a consulting artist to develop the vision for the roof and realize it in a structurally efficient, cost-effective way. The roof appears to rotate as it opens and closes, but in actuality uses eight pentagonal panels that move on a straight axis—maintaining the visual effect at significant cost-savings. The stadium is designed to accommodate flexible seating arrangements, with drop-down curtains for MLS games and smaller events. It was the first professional sports stadium to achieve LEED Platinum. It hosted Super Bowl LIII in 2019.

*Project completed by Erleen Hatfield as Partner at Buro Happold prior to founding Hatfield Group.

Location: Atlanta, GA
Architect: HOK and TVS
Size: 2,100,000 SF
Completion: 2016