AECOM has been involved in some of the most recognizable infrastructure and building projects across the globe. From megabridges and transit systems to stadiums and skyscrapers, the firm consistently shows up on projects that push the limits of scale, coordination, and engineering complexity. In this article, we’re looking at ten standout AECOM projects, including One World Trade Center, Crossrail, and the Gordie Howe International Bridge. Each one highlights a different side of what large-scale construction looks like today—from dense urban builds to multi-country infrastructure programs.

AECOM

AECOM is a global infrastructure consulting firm delivering architecture, engineering, construction management, and program delivery services across more than 150 countries. With roughly 50,000 employees worldwide, the company operates across transportation, water, energy, and buildings, often leading large, multi-year programs involving multiple stakeholders and contractors.

What sets AECOM apart is its role across the full project lifecycle—from early planning and environmental work through to construction management and long-term operations support. The firm is often brought in when projects involve high complexity, tight timelines, or coordination across multiple jurisdictions.

10 past, present, and future projects from AECOM

1. One World Trade Center

Location: New York, USA
Year built: 2014
Typology: Skyscraper/commercial

At 1,776 feet tall, One World Trade Center is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. AECOM’s Tishman Construction team handled the construction management job, overseeing one of the most confusing and challenging builds in recent American history. The tower features 3 million square feet of office space, walls in the concrete core up to 3 feet thick, and blast-resistant design features. What makes this project truly impressive is the level of coordination required—security, structural engineering, and logistics all had to be carefully managed on a constrained site in Lower Manhattan. The building also incorporates a 408-foot spire and a heavily reinforced podium designed to meet strict safety requirements, which influenced both sequencing and material handling during construction.

2. Crossrail (Elizabeth Line)

Location: London, UK
Year built: 2022
Typology: Rail/transit

Crossrail is the biggest infrastructure project in Europe, and it involves over 100km of rail track and a staggering 42km of tunnels that snake beneath London. AECOM was the brains behind the project in program management and engineering support. The finished system links East and West London together with trains that can carry up to 1500 passengers at a time. 

What sets it apart is the underground construction—massive tunnel-boring operations beneath a dense city, alongside station construction in extremely tight urban conditions. At peak construction, more than 10,000 workers were active across multiple sites, requiring careful coordination of logistics, materials, and urban access. The growing push toward high-capacity transit systems in major cities is evident with projects like the Crossrail, where expanding underground is often the only way to increase capacity without disrupting life above ground.

3. Gordie Howe International Bridge

Location: Canada–USA border
Year built: Under construction (expected completion 2025)
Typology: Bridge/transportation

This six-lane bridge will span 2.5 km with a main span of 853 meters, making it one of the longest cable-stayed bridges in North America. AECOM is part of the design team delivering the structure and associated border facilities. The project features ports of entry on both sides and connecting highways. The binational coordination—across two countries, multiple agencies, and a highly complex customs infrastructure—needs to be integrated into a single coherent system, requiring careful collaboration. 

As for the bridge towers, they’re a mighty 220 meters high, so they required specialized formwork and precise sequencing to manage their vertical construction alongside all the cable work. This bridge illustrates how modern infrastructure is increasingly tied to cross-border trade and logistics, where design decisions directly affect the efficiency with which goods and people move between countries.

4. 2016 Rio Olympic Park

Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Year built: 2016
Typology: Sports/mixed-use

AECOM led the master planning and design of the 120-hectare Olympic Park, which hosted multiple venues for the 2016 Games. The site was designed for long-term reuse, to be converted into residential, commercial, and recreational spaces after the event. The project required fast-tracked delivery, temporary structures, and long-term legacy planning. What makes it noteworthy is its dual purpose—both a short-term global event and long-term urban development. Several venues were designed as modular or temporary structures, allowing materials to be reused or relocated after the Games. This consideration offers a glimpse into broader industry trends, in which reusing materials or even entire components demonstrates a commitment to environmental sustainability and waste reduction.

5. Padma Bridge

Location: Bangladesh
Year built: 2022
Typology: Bridge/infrastructure

The Padma Bridge is a 6.15 km multipurpose bridge carrying road and rail across one of Bangladesh’s most challenging river systems. AECOM led the detailed design, coordinating an international team of engineers. The structure had to withstand strong currents, deep riverbeds, and seismic conditions. The engineering had to be incredibly accurate—deep pile foundations and complex hydrological considerations make it one of the most technically demanding bridges in the region. Some foundation piles extend more than 120 meters below the riverbed, requiring specialized installation methods to accommodate shifting soil conditions. Projects like this show how infrastructure is expanding into more difficult environments, pushing design and construction teams to solve problems that standard methods can’t handle.

6. Al Wahda Arches

Location: Doha, Qatar
Year built: 2020
Typology: Landmark/infrastructure

These monumental arches rise 100 meters high and span one of Doha’s busiest highway sections—essentially acting as a gateway into the city. They’re built from over 9,000 tons of structural steel, and are set at a 20-degree angle to each other. They’re held together with a tensioned cable system that helps keep the whole structure stable even in windy conditions and when it’s loaded down. 

AECOM led the design and engineering, creating a form that looks very different depending on how fast you’re approaching and at what angle. The installation required precision lifting and staged assembly, with tight tolerances to align the inclined steel ribs, while an integrated LED lighting system transforms the arches into a dynamic nighttime feature visible across the surrounding roadway network. This project reflects a growing shift in infrastructure design, where even highway elements are being treated as landmarks that shape how cities are experienced, not just how they function.

7. Singapore Sports Hub

Location: Singapore
Year built: 2014
Typology: Sports/mixed-use

This 35-hectare sports and entertainment complex includes a 55,000-seat stadium, indoor arenas, and aquatic centers. AECOM contributed to design and engineering as part of a larger consortium. The stadium features a retractable roof and advanced cooling systems designed for tropical conditions. What’s notable here is the project’s integration—multiple venues, public spaces, and transportation systems combined into one continuous development. The dome spans more than 300 meters, making it one of the largest free-spanning domes in the world. It is clear to see that large venues are now being designed as multi-use destinations, where infrastructure, public space, and event programming are planned together from the start.

8. Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) modernization

Location: Los Angeles, USA
Year built: Ongoing (2016 – 2028+)
Typology: Airport infrastructure

AECOM has played a major role in LAX’s modernization, including terminal upgrades, airfield improvements, and transit connections. The airport handles 70+ million passengers annually, so construction must happen in phases without disrupting operations. Work includes structural upgrades, new gates, and transportation systems, as well as major projects such as the Automated People Mover, a new consolidated rental car facility, and an intermodal transportation hub. The scale and sequencing make this one of the most complex airport programs in the U.S. The broader program is valued at over $14 billion, with multiple overlapping projects delivered on a constrained, active site.

9. Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge 

Location: Hong Kong / China
Year built: 2018
Typology: Bridge/transport infrastructure

AECOM contributed to the Hong Kong boundary facilities for this 55-km bridge–tunnel system, one of the world’s longest sea crossings. The project includes artificial islands, customs facilities, and major transport links. Construction involved marine works, land reclamation, and large-scale logistics, including an immersed tunnel section and multiple long-span bridge segments designed to withstand typhoon conditions. What is impressive is the combination of civil engineering and international coordination. The reclaimed island alone covers over 130 hectares, requiring extensive ground improvement and seawall construction. In today’s modern world, infrastructure is expanding across open waters and coastal regions, where engineering solutions must account for extreme weather, long-term durability, and the increasing demand for cross-border connectivity.

10. Mercedes-Benz Stadium

Location: Atlanta, USA
Year built: 2017
Typology: Sports stadium

This 71,000-seat stadium features a retractable roof made up of eight triangular panels that open like a camera aperture. AECOM’s construction management division played a major role in delivery. The project includes advanced structural steel systems and a 360-degree video board. What sets it apart is the roof mechanism—one of the most complex movable roof systems built for a stadium. The structure required over 27,000 tons of steel, with precise sequencing needed to assemble and align the retractable roof components. Projects like this show how stadium design is pushing the boundaries of advanced engineering, where structural systems are expected to move, adapt, and enhance the fan experience rather than remain static.

Joint venture projects with HDR

AECOM often takes the lead on its own projects, though it has occasionally teamed with HDR on a few major infrastructure deals through joint ventures. These partnerships usually occur on tough public projects—such as coastal protection systems and major water infrastructure—where having both teams on board helps distribute the workload, share the risk, and manage complexity more easily. HDR is a US-based company that has been around for years, specializing in areas like transportation, healthcare, and water management. 

1. Sabine to Galveston Coastal Storm Risk Management Project

Location: Texas Gulf Coast, USA
Year built: Ongoing
Typology: Coastal infrastructure/flood protection

This is one of the clearest examples of a true AECOM–HDR joint venture, operating as a single engineering team under the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The project is part of a $3.9 billion coastal storm protection system designed to reduce flood risk across six counties along the Texas coast, protecting more than 5 million residents. The scope includes levee raises, new floodwalls, and a 74-foot-wide sector gate at the Dow Barge Canal, along with upgrades to more than 13 miles of levees and several miles of floodwall systems.

What makes this project stand out is the scale of protection infrastructure combined with the level of coordination required. This isn’t a single site—it’s a regional system spread across multiple jurisdictions, waterways, and existing flood control assets. AECOM and HDR are working together to deliver design packages that tie all of those elements into a functioning system. It’s a good example of how joint ventures are used when the scope is too large for a single firm to handle alone.

2. Victoria Wastewater Treatment Plant (McLoughlin Point)

Location: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Year built: 2020
Typology: Water/wastewater infrastructure

The McLoughlin Point Wastewater Treatment Plant is part of a multi-million-dollar regional wastewater program that came in at CAD $775 million, delivered by a team that included AECOM and HDR teaming with the construction partners. AECOM brought its environmental and wastewater design expertise to the table, while HDR spearheaded the architectural side—designing the facility itself and making it look like it belongs where it sits. The plant is situated on a rocky coastline, which posed tricky environmental challenges; site contamination was one of the issues they had to deal with, along with strict guidelines on what they could and couldn’t build.

A big part of what makes this project interesting is how it blends heavy infrastructure with architectural design. Wastewater plants are usually hidden or purely functional. Here, the team treated it as a civic asset, integrating sustainability, public access, and environmental performance into the design.

Final thoughts

AECOM’s portfolio is diverse, but the one thing that ties them all together is the sheer size and complexity of their projects. These aren’t your average, everyday construction projects. They involve a whole team of people, take a long time to finish, and require a lot of adjusting as you go along. You’ll find AECOM working on things like road bridges, rail systems, and sports stadiums—anywhere the project gets really complicated.

If you want to stay up to date on projects like these and how they’re built, subscribe to the Under the Hard Hat newsletter for more industry insights.

North America is rushing to build houses to fix the current shortage, but we often forget to ask if these new neighborhoods actually make life better. The Granary in Milton, Delaware, is a 451-acre project that proves you can build for human connection instead of desity. This article explores how a 15-year plan is using smart design to create a community where health and belonging come first.

For contractors and developers, this model is worth paying attention to. The design decisions that make The Granary distinctive pose construction challenges that most residential teams haven’t faced before. 

When a master-planned community is built around human connection: Inside The Granary

The project plans to add 1,350 homes to a town of approximately 3,500 people. Most developers look at the land and try to guesstimate how many houses they can fit on it. The team at The Granary took a different path. They let the 451 acres of Delaware landscape dictate where things should go. Instead of covering every inch with asphalt and rooftops, they set aside 110 acres specifically for open space. This land-first approach ensures that nature stays a part of the neighborhood rather than being pushed to the edges.

That 110-acre commitment to open space is significant—it’s not just a design philosophy, it’s a construction constraint. When nearly a quarter of the site is preserved and protected, it drastically shrinks the buildable footprint. Everything from staging to sequencing must now be planned around boundaries that cannot move.

Ecological systems as infrastructure

Most subdivisions treat nature like an afterthought; something added at the end with basic sod and a few shrubs. The team at The Granary flipped this model by treating the environment as a primary utility. The project uses meadowscaping and natural water systems as core infrastructure, restoring the native wildflower meadows that have defined Delaware’s coastal farmland. This move preserves the local ecology and puts a functional, natural landscape at every resident’s doorstep.

The five-minute walk philosophy

A big problem with modern suburbs is their walkability—you have to drive everywhere. The Granary fixes this by using a design in which every resident lives within a five-minute walk of a park or trail. This changes the goal of the streets. Instead of only worrying about how fast a car can drive through, the focus is on how easily a person can walk to see a neighbor, turning a simple walk into a community-building experience.

Distributed amenities and commercial space

A common pitfall for large developments is building a single massive central clubhouse that requires a cross-town drive to reach. The Granary uses a distributed model, spreading 60,000 square feet of commercial space throughout the neighborhood. These smaller hubs have local staples like coffee shops and wellness studios, making it easier for neighbors to cross paths during their morning routines. The plan even leans into Milton’s local identity by featuring a brewery incubator and a shared taproom. By scattering these social nodes across the site, the project turns a standard commercial requirement into a tool for community building.

Construction trade-offs: the price of livability

Building a place like The Granary requires a rethinking of standard builds. For builders and civil contractors, it is much easier to clear a flat piece of land and put houses in a grid. Designing for human connection and nature adds a lot of technical work that most subdivisions have not traditionally had to contend with.

Infrastructure complexity and funding

When you move away from a basic street grid, engineering becomes much more difficult. Managing water, power, and sewage across a winding, land-led layout requires extra coordination. To pay for this complex infrastructure, the project uses a special development district model. This spreads costs over time between the developer and homeowners, allowing for more extensive amenities to be delivered earlier in the project.

Long-term planning discipline

The Granary is a 15-year project built in 10 phases. This means contractors have to stay disciplined for over a decade. They must follow strict rules, such as using dark-sky lighting to reduce light pollution and protecting the natural meadows during every stage of construction. It can be tempting to cut corners in later years to save time, but keeping the original vision alive ensures the community character stays the same from the first house to the last.

Challenges for labor and site planning

The Granary is both a design puzzle and a major challenge for workers on the ground. To make this level of detail work, labor and planning teams have to use a much more connected workflow than they would on a normal jobsite.

Integrated site planning

Because so much of the land is preserved, the actual space available for builders to work is tight. This requires extremely careful staging. Construction crews must stay within strict boundaries to avoid crushing protected meadows or ruining the new trail systems. On a typical site, you might have plenty of room to park heavy machinery, but here, every square foot matters.

Greater landscape coordination

In most construction projects, landscaping is treated like the final coat of paint. At The Granary, the landscape is a main part of the structure. The trails and natural grasses have to be protected and integrated from day one. This means landscape teams are involved throughout the entire process to ensure the natural environment stays healthy as houses go up around it.

Intentional sequencing

Developers usually build as many homes as possible before they even think about adding parks or pools. The Granary flips this financial model. To make sure the neighborhood is livable right away, many of the social spots and trails are built before the houses are finished. This kind of intentional sequencing is harder to plan, but it makes sure that the very first people to move in already have a place to connect.

Can construction engineer better social outcomes?

The Granary is a bold experiment to see whether the things we build can quiet the noise of modern life. By treating walking paths and land preservation as essential parts of the project rather than nice-to-haves, this development shows a new path forward. It suggests that the future of the construction industry lies in its ability to build human connections.

For contractors and developers, the lesson here is simple. The most successful communities in the future will not rely on how many houses a lot can hold. Rather, success will come from prioritizing how people feel when living in those spaces. Building with people in mind creates places that last far beyond the next housing cycle.

The Granary also shows where expectations for residential development are heading. As housing affordability pressures increase and buyers become more selective about where they invest, developments that offer strong community value alongside housing are likely to attract greater demand. For developers and contractors who want to build sought-after projects, paying attention to what The Granary is doing is a good place to start. 

The way residential developments are being designed and built is changing. For more coverage on the projects, trends, and design shifts shaping construction, subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

Modern architecture has long prioritized the efficiency of a sealed box, often sacrificing human livability for rigid mechanical control. Architecture firm SO-IL is part of a growing movement challenging this model. Through unconventional material choices and open-air layouts, they are rethinking how buildings function for the people inside them. Their work signals a major shift toward breathable, permeable structures, forcing contractors and trades to master new coordination challenges on the jobsite.

Who is SO–IL?

Founded in 2008 by Florian Idenburg and Jing Liu, the Brooklyn-based firm focuses on the early, high-stakes design of civic and residential projects. Unlike traditional firms that stick to standard sealed envelopes, SO-IL specializes in inventive facades and complex geometries that prioritize natural light and ventilation.

SO-IL’s approach turns a standard build into a high-stakes coordination puzzle. These designs are a challenge for every trade involved. Because the buildings are designed to breathe, contractors have to handle high-precision installations on custom skins that require more than a standard bracket system. The MEP coordination is where it gets really tricky: you’re trying to run essential utilities through open-air walkways and exterior zones, which is a huge departure from how most high-rise mechanicals are mapped out.

10 past, present, and future projects from SO-IL

1. 9 Chapel

• Location: Brooklyn, USA
• Year built: 2024
• Typology: Residential

This 14-story residential tower features a massing broken into smaller, varied blocks rather than a single monolithic stack. The goal was to move away from the dark and cramped feeling of traditional city apartments and give residents a constant connection to the Brooklyn skyline. The building is wrapped in a shimmering, undulating skin made of perforated anodized aluminum. These lightweight panels catch the light throughout the day and change color with the seasons.

This project highlights the shift toward passive design that reduces reliance on mechanical cooling. For contractors, the perforated skin acts as a functional screen for air and light. The undulation is created using just three unique panel types that are rotated and mirrored, requiring extreme precision during facade installation to ensure the air can flow through as intended.

2. Williams College Museum of Art

• Location: Williamstown, USA
• Year built: 2027 (Expected)
• Typology: Museum

The first purpose-built home for the Williams College Museum of Art features a wavy, canopy-like roof inspired by the surrounding Berkshire Mountains. The building is centered on a sustainable, light-filled design that merges indoor and outdoor educational spaces to create a more connected learning environment.

This project also reflects the industry’s shift towards mass timber construction. With most of the primary structure made of wood, the museum merges art with advanced construction engineering. For contractors, that means navigating specialized moisture controls and fire-safety requirements unique to large-scale timber assembly.

3. Site Verrier (Meisenthal Cultural Center)

• Location: Meisenthal, France
• Year built: 2021
• Typology: Cultural campus

At Site Verrier, SO-IL transformed an old 18th-century glass factory into a unified campus by connecting three distinct glass-making buildings into a single shared public plaza. The project is defined by a single, undulating surface of poured-in-place concrete that functions simultaneously as a roof, ceiling, and wall, tying the entire site together through a single architectural feature.

This is a masterclass in complex concrete forming. Creating a fabric-like fold in structural concrete requires highly technical formwork, careful pour sequencing, and precise execution to maintain the design’s fluidity without compromising structural integrity.

4. 450 Warren

• Location: Brooklyn, USA
• Year built: 2022
• Typology: Residential

450 Warren is an experiment in urban living that prioritizes outdoor space as a defining fabric of the building. It replaces traditional indoor hallways with open-air walkways and three courtyards filled with native greenery, encouraging residents to step outside and interact with nature and each other.

That design choice changes how the building is built and performs. Moving circulation to the exterior introduced new challenges around passive rainwater irrigation, drainage, and the integration of landscaping into the building’s overall function. Contractors also had to manage the thermal challenges inherent in designing a building that is not a sealed system.

5. CubeHouse

• Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Year built: 2026 (Expected)
• Typology: Hybrid wooden office tower

Located in Amsterdam’s Zuidas district, CubeHouse is a high-performance office tower that focuses on sustainability and occupant well-being. With roughly 5% of the building materials coming from biological sources, the building traps nearly 9,000 tons of carbon dioxide through its hybrid wooden structure and bio-based design. 

Similar to the Williams College project, CubeHouse highlights the move toward sustainable construction. For contractors, this means coordinating complex hybrid steel-and-wood connections, managing specialized installation requirements, and adapting to a skill set that’s becoming increasingly more important in high-density sustainable builds.

6. Stanton Yards

• Location: Detroit, USA
• Year built: In progress
• Typology: Arts campus and adaptive reuse

A transformation of a four-building working marina into a creative arts campus on the Detroit Riverfront, Stanton Yards is preserving Detroit’s history while building something entirely new for the community. SO-IL’s design keeps the original brick walls in place while introducing more modern materials, creating a design that bridges industrial history with modern public access.

This project is an example of the friction found in adaptive reuse. Contractors are tasked with propping up fragile, historic walls while simultaneously installing a modern, open-air envelope. Swapping out heavy industrial sections for breathable polycarbonate and metal grating is a delicate balancing act, requiring a custom anchoring strategy to ensure the old masonry can carry the load of the new, high-concept additions.

7. Las Americas Housing

• Location: León, Mexico
• Year built: 2021
• Typology: Affordable residential

A vertical housing prototype designed to stop urban sprawl, Las Americas Housing delivers high-density, low-income living without a sealed-box feel. A double-courtyard layout enables cross-ventilation in every unit, creating a more breathable living space for occupants while also improving housing affordability at scale.

This project proves that breathable design isn’t only for luxury builds. By emphasizing passive airflow over expensive mechanical cooling, the design is heavily dependent on precise execution. Contractors must maintain strict geometric accuracy in the courtyard to facilitate the chimney effect of the rising air, making construction precision imperative to the building’s long-term performance.

8. Kukje Gallery (K3)

• Location: Seoul, South Korea
• Year built: 2012
• Typology: Art gallery

The Kukje Gallery (K3) features a unique, soft exterior that allows a modern building to sit comfortably within one of Seoul’s historic neighborhoods. Wrapped in a handcrafted stainless-steel mesh that resembles draped fabric, the gallery uses this soft layer to help the modern structure blend naturally with its historic surroundings.

Behind the soft exterior were major construction challenges. Trades had to deal with anchoring a flexible metal skin over a rigid building box, pushing the project well beyond traditional cladding standards. Achieving the right tension required custom-engineered anchors and precise sequencing, turning the gallery’s facade into both an architectural statement and a major construction puzzle. 

9. Manetti Shrem Museum of Art (UC Davis)

• Location: Davis, USA
• Year built: 2016
• Typology: University art museum

Defined by a 50,000-square-foot Grand Canopy made of perforated aluminum beams, the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art draws inspiration from the patterns of local farm fields. The sweeping roof extends beyond the building, covering both the museum and the public plaza to create a shaded outdoor park.

The scale itself creates challenges for construction. A roof this large and permeable poses unique challenges for wind uplift and structural loads, requiring contractors to manage complex geometry in the aluminum beams while maintaining long-term stability. Precise execution was paramount to ensuring the breathable canopy remained stable in extreme weather without compromising the design’s lightness.

10. Amant Art Campus

• Location: Brooklyn, USA
• Year built: 2021
• Typology: Art research and exhibition center

Spread across two city blocks, the Amant Art Campus features three separate buildings connected by public pathways and private courtyards. Rather than feeling like a separate building, the campus weaves itself into Bushwick’s industrial streetscape, using varied concrete textures and finishes to turn industrial streets into a social extension of the neighborhood.

The seamless integration of public and private space posed challenges for construction teams. For contractors, it meant managing multiple small-scale job sites at once and protecting the long-term performance of public walkways that serve as the campus’s veins.

Further reading:

• Inside HMC projects: Standout architecture across North America
• 10 Diamond Schmitt projects redefining cultural and civic spaces
• Hariri Pontarini projects shaping Toronto (and beyond)
• Top Perkins & Will projects shaping sustainable design

SO–IL’s work is a preview of where architecture and construction are heading—more complex facades, more open-air coordination challenges, and a higher bar for every trade on site. For more breakdowns on the companies and projects pushing the industry forward, subscribe to the Under the Hard Hat newsletter.

Construction has begun on one of Toronto’s largest open-space redevelopments — and the constraints contractors face on this job are becoming the new normal

Construction has officially begun on one of Toronto’s largest open-space redevelopments, David Crombie Park, in the dense St. Lawrence neighborhood. The revitalization project focuses on rebuilding public space in a fully built-out urban environment, presenting unique challenges and demands for contractors.

Led by architecture and urban design firms Arcadis and SLA, this initiative aims to restore the park’s public spaces while preserving its structure and heritage.

“Taking cues from the original masterplan of the park, we opted for a quite humble and considerate approach,” said Rasmus Astrup, senior partner and design principal, SLA. “By studying the park’s history, usage, values, and importance to the local community, we proposed a three-stringed design strategy: To preserve, revitalize, and unite.”

Estimates for the project came in around $15 million—a significant investment that reflects how cities are shifting to treat park infrastructure with the same urgency as roads and transit. For contractors in the GTA, it’s also a sign of the type of work coming down the pipeline as urban areas begin long-overdue revitalization of public spaces.

David Crombie Park project scope 

The scope of the project includes revitalizing nearly two hectares (five acres) of park space. It will also include upgrades to pathways, landscaping, lighting, and community spaces.

The project will also involve changes along the Esplanade and cycle track. This will include streetscape upgrades, improved pedestrian connections, and support for long-term sustainability through coordination with underground infrastructure.

For contractors, it’s important to note this is a multi-scope project that will require tight coordination across different trades and timelines. But that coordination extends beyond the park boundary. The Esplanade streetscape and cycle track integration means crews will also be working in active traffic corridors in downtown Toronto alongside city infrastructure teams. This is a layer of complexity you don’t often see on typical park revitalization projects.  

Why this project matters

The David Crombie Park revitalization project stands out because it’s a popular, high-use urban community space. This park has been bearing the brunt of aging infrastructure and is in urgent need of modernization.

Public spaces such as this hugely popular park require the same level of reinvestment and attention as roads and buildings. Additionally, this is a broader trend—there is a growing pipeline of revitalization projects that involve greater complexity and more constraints than greenfield builds. 

The City of Toronto is not the only city facing this. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) estimates that the national municipal infrastructure deficit—which covers roads, parks, public realms, and community centers—has grown to over $30 billion. Public realm projects like David Crombie Park are among the first to move from backlog to active construction, and many others are likely to follow as cities begin prioritizing aging community infrastructure.

What the construction approach to David Crombie Park looks like

The David Crombie Park revitalization project is following a systematic, phased approach that will include block-by-block construction. The multi-year project is expected to finish in 2028, and the goal remains to ensure the park is usable during construction.

This does raise the stakes for contractors—phasing can directly impact cost, productivity, and risk. They’ll face multiple mobilizations, complex sequencing and scheduling, and the ongoing challenge of working around active public use. Each phase will essentially become its own project, increasing costs and complexity compared to sites that can undergo full closure. 

Site challenges

In addition to working in a dense urban area, contractors will be required to coordinate with underground infrastructure during the revitalization project. They will also have to work around limited staging and access while ensuring they’re managing pedestrian access and safety at all times. 

The St. Lawrence area is Toronto’s oldest neighborhood, so underground conditions are largely unknown and unlikely to be consistent throughout. This uncertainty can make it harder to price and schedule projects. 

Contractors will have to prioritize logistics planning to avoid mishaps and account for the higher risk posed by unknown factors, such as subsurface conditions. They will also have to be prepared for the risk of budget overruns if subsurface investigations before construction prove insufficient.

Sustainability focus

One of the priorities of the David Crombie Park revitalization project is to retain the original infrastructure where possible, while also prioritizing sustainable construction and achieving its carbon neutrality target around 13 years after completion.

This reflects a broader shift towards embracing reusing over rebuilding. Contractors can expect to see more projects like this in the future that prioritize integrating new components into existing systems, requiring more complex sequencing and execution. These kinds of projects also tend to prefer selective demolition versus a full tear-out approach.

For contractors, selective demolition adds challenges that don’t come with full demolitions. Because the St. Lawrence area is a designated Heritage Conservation District (HCD), planning demos is significantly more difficult. It requires careful sequencing, experienced crews, and detailed documentation of existing site conditions before work can begin.

Demos of this kind tend to be a lot slower and more labor-intensive than shutting down an area and doing a complete tear-out. 

Broader urban integration at work

This revitalization project isn’t a standalone effort—it aims to enhance connectivity through streetscape improvements and cycle-track integration. 

Projects are no longer isolated, and more often than not, they tie into larger urban systems. For contractors, this means working alongside multiple timelines and more coordination with stakeholders, adjacent projects, and city systems.

The David Crombie Park revitalization project is more than a park upgrade—it’s a model for rebuilding infrastructure in dense cities. Future work will increasingly include a combination of phased delivery, tight sites, and active public use, with success depending on planning, adaptability, and coordination.

The pipeline for work like the David Crombie Park revitalization is growing. Cities across Canada are boosting their investments in public realm and community infrastructure, and projects like this are an example of what that work looks like in practice. Contractors who build experience with phased project delivery now will be in the strongest position when backlogged work moves into active construction.

Urban infrastructure investment is accelerating across Canada—and the projects in the pipeline are getting more complex. For ongoing coverage of the projects, trends, and contractor insights shaping the industry, subscribe to the Under the Hard Hat newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn.

The Toronto Tempo’s new training facility is more than a place to practice—it’s being built from the ground up specifically for women’s professional basketball. The performance center will include two WNBA regulation courts, along with recovery spaces and team operations designed around how female athletes actually train and compete. It’s planned for 2028 at Exhibition Place, close to Coca-Cola Coliseum. What makes it stand out is that it won’t be limited to the team. The space is expected to open up to the public year-round, bringing together elite training and community use in the same building.

The timing of this project is also worth noting. The Toronto Tempo is the 14th WNBA franchise and the first Canadian team, and the fact that they’re building a dedicated facility for them from day one shows just how quickly the investment case for women’s professional sports has shifted. 

A facility built for performance and real use

At its core, the Toronto Tempo Performance Center is designed for female athletes. It includes two WNBA regulation courts, along with training, recovery, and support spaces that reflect how players actually train and recover day to day. This isn’t a retrofitted building or shared facility. It’s built from the ground up with performance in mind.

One of the key factors is how the space is laid out specifically for women’s professional sports. Locker rooms, recovery areas, and team spaces have been thought through with a focus on creating a real sense of privacy, comfort, and a long-term fit—things which all too often get put on the back burner in multi-use arenas or older facilities that weren’t designed with female athletes in mind.

The way team operations mesh with the building itself is also key. Offices, meeting rooms, and support spaces are all right alongside the courts, keeping everything feeling connected. That helps keep day-to-day tensions between training, coaching, and operations to a minimum. It’s a more efficient way of doing things, and one that makes sense given how teams work.

More than a private training center

What sets this project apart is that it goes beyond the capabilities of your average professional team’s facility. The plan is for year-round public access, plus loads of programming to support local youth sports and community activities.

That changes the way you would normally view this building. It is no longer just a closed-off gym for professionals to train in. It’s now a part of the city’s recreational fabric. Local kids, youth sports teams, and community groups all get to use the same space, which goes a long way in bridging the gap between professional sports and the general public.

This approach also makes better use of the building. Instead of sitting idle outside of team hours, the facility stays active throughout the year. That kind of shared use is becoming more common, especially in cities where land is limited and demand for recreational space is high.

Building on underused land

The location is another part of the story. The facility will be built on land at Exhibition Place that’s currently used as a parking lot. That shift—from low-use space to a high-impact facility—reflects how cities are rethinking land use.

The project is being developed in partnership with the City of Toronto and aligns with the city’s public access and community programming strategy. It’s about more than just a team facility; it’s building something that is going to fit in for the long term in the city.

From a construction standpoint, this kind of redevelopment brings its own challenges. Working within an existing urban site means dealing with access, surrounding infrastructure, and coordination with nearby venues. At the same time, it offers a chance to rethink how underused areas can support more active, multi-purpose development.

Exhibition Place is already a dense events-and-venues area, adding more coordination complexity than a normal greenfield site would. Scheduling, access, and staging all need to be coordinated around events running at nearby venues.

Design choices that reflect long-term use

The facility is being designed by HOK, with a focus on how it will actually be used day to day—not only by the team, but by the public as well. That starts with accessibility. The layout needs to work for different users moving through the space, from athletes heading into training to community groups coming in for programs. Circulation, entrances, and shared areas must all be clear and easy to use.

There’s also a push to build it in a way that holds up over time. That means paying attention to energy use, material durability, and the building’s performance once it’s in operation. It’s not only about opening day—it’s about how the space functions years from now.

The bigger shift is about flexibility, not just churning out single-use facilities locked into a single purpose. This facility needs to accommodate team training, public programs, and any future additions, which will change how it is designed and built. This means spaces have to be adaptable without requiring a complete overhaul, putting pressure on ensuring that planning gets done right the first time.

What this project says about where things are heading

The Toronto Tempo Performance Center is a sign of things to come in sports construction. Women’s professional sports are on the rise, and that’s reflected in the kinds of facilities we’re seeing built. Teams aren’t making do with hand-me-down spaces or adapting old buildings to suit their needs anymore. They’re demanding dedicated facilities that cater to their specific needs, rather than trying to fit in somewhere that doesn’t offer them that.

At the same time, cities are increasingly expecting these projects to deliver. Public access, community programming, and real long-term value need to be part of the picture. A training facility is no longer just about the team; it’s part of a bigger system that includes recreation, development, and planning for the city as a whole.

There’s a financial angle to all of this, too. Purpose-built facilities help teams operate much more efficiently, which in turn helps them stay stable over the long term. And when you pair that with public access, you get a really steady usage pattern, which in turn helps justify the investment.

Final thoughts

The Toronto Tempo training facility is doing more than giving a WNBA team a place to train. It’s showing how sports buildings are starting to serve multiple purposes. Performance, community access, and long-term use are being built into the same space. That shift matters for how these projects are planned, funded, and built. It also changes what contractors and designers are expected to deliver. These aren’t single-use buildings anymore—they have to work for multiple groups over time.

Sports infrastructure is one of the fastest-growing sectors in construction right now. For more coverage of the facilities, trends, and industry shifts shaping how these projects are designed and built, subscribe to the Under the Hard Hat newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn.

HOK is a global design firm that builds spaces to help people thrive while protecting the planet. In this article, we’ll explore how their team uses technical excellence to create some of the world’s most famous airports, stadiums, and labs. These 10 impressive projects define how HOK is rethinking the built world and working toward a goal of total sustainability by 2030.

About HOK

One of the largest design firms in the world, HOK is a global architecture, engineering, and planning firm with 1,600 people working across 26 offices.

Their mission is to deliver exceptional design solutions by blending human need with environmental stewardship. HOK is a leader in sustainable design and was one of the first major firms to sign the AIA 2030 Commitment. This means they are working to make all their new buildings and renovations carbon neutral by 2030. As of 2024, HOK has outpaced the AIA’s average 50% reduction in energy use intensity (EUI) by 15%.

In a press release, Anica Landreneau, HOK’s director of sustainable design, said, “Our progress demonstrates that high-performance design and environmental impact reduction are not mutually exclusive. We’re proving this is achievable even for complex projects, without heavily relying on grid decarbonization, building electrification, or renewable energy resources.”

10 past, present, and future projects from HOK

1. LaGuardia Airport Terminal B

• Location: New York, New York
• Year built: 2022
• Typology: Aviation/transportation

The LaGuardia Airport Terminal B project isn’t just an airport renovation project—it rethinks how airport infrastructure can enhance both performance and the passenger experience. It represents the largest public-private partnership in U.S. aviation history, and reflects a growing trend toward shared risk and large-scale collaboration in complex builds. 

The terminal features 35 gates and a first-of-its-kind island-and-bridges design. This unique layout allows planes to taxi directly under pedestrian skybridges, increasing the airport’s capacity by 50% and saving a massive amount of aircraft fuel. As one of the first terminals in North America to earn a 5-star Skytrax rating, it also shows how high-performance design doesn’t have to compromise user experience—it can elevate both.

2. Mercedes-Benz Stadium

• Location: Atlanta, Georgia
• Year built: 2017
• Typology: Sports/entertainment

Home to the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons, Mercedes-Benz Stadium is an architectural icon that goes beyond conventional stadium design, blending engineering, fan experience, and sustainability into a single, high-performance structure. Its signature retractable roof, comprised of eight triangular petals that move in unison to open and close just like a camera aperture, allows the stadium to adapt to different events and conditions, turning a fixed venue into a flexible, multi-use arena.

Inside, a 360-degree HD video halo board changes how fans can engage with the game, offering an immersive experience from every seat. What really sets this stadium apart is the combination of fan experience paired with sustainability. As the first professional sports stadium in the U.S. to achieve LEED Platinum certification, it shows that massive entertainment venues can decrease their environmental impact without compromising performance or design.

3. NOAA Daniel K. Inouye Regional Center

• Location: Honolulu, HI
• Year built: 2014
• Typology: Government/science + technology

Building a large-scale research facility in a sensitive coastal environment comes with a unique set of environmental, logistical, and cultural challenges. HOK took a different approach to solving this challenge at the NOAA Daniel K. Inouye Regional Center by repurposing two historic 1940s airplane hangars. Instead of building a traditional office block, HOK linked the hangars with a new central building, creating a massive, integrated campus that preserves the site’s military history while providing state-of-the-art laboratories.

What sets this building apart is how it responds to the surrounding environment—the building’s “engine” is its passive cooling system inspired by traditional Polynesian architecture. HOK used gravity-driven ventilation that draws cool ocean air through the building’s interior, drastically reducing the need for traditional air conditioning in the tropical climate. The design also features a large-scale rooftop water-collection system that filters and reuses rainwater for cooling and irrigation, allowing the facility to operate with a much smaller environmental footprint than a standard government building.

4. St. Louis CITY SC Energizer Park

• Location: St. Louis, Missouri
• Year built: 2022
• Typology: Sports/recreation

This 22,500-seat soccer stadium is a major urban infill project that transformed a once-vacant site into a lively downtown destination, reflecting a shift towards public spaces that contribute to the surrounding city. Unlike traditional stadiums that feel like ‘closed-off fortresses’, Energizer Park has a transparent design with open corners, allowing people on the street to become immersed in the action inside and integrating the stadium into the city’s fabric.

Every seat in the stadium is within 120 feet of the pitch, creating an intimate, up-close experience for fans. The project is also the largest urban professional sports campus in the U.S. to function as a fully integrated campus, housing the team’s headquarters, training facility, and practice fields all in one central location.

5. BBC Studios Headquarters

• Location: London, United Kingdom
• Year built: 2016
• Typology: Workplace/office

HOK transformed a historic 1960s “television factory” into a creative hub for over 1,200 employees, showing how existing buildings can be reimagined to support more modern ways of working. The design preserves the building’s industrial feel, with exposed structures that honor its history as the former home of BBC News, while reconfiguring it for greater flexibility and collaboration.

The heart of the office is a striking spiral staircase that links all six floors. By removing the old central elevator cores, HOK created a bright, open atrium that encourages people to meet and share ideas as they move through the building. It is a space designed for modern media production, where employees can create, connect, and broadcast from almost anywhere in the office, reflecting a broader shift toward more open, flexible, and connected work environments.

6. NewYork-Presbyterian David H. Koch Center

• Location: New York, New York
• Year built: 2018
• Typology: Healthcare

This NewYork-Presbyterian David H. Koch Center rethinks hospital design, prioritizing patient experience and building design. Designed to reduce stress and provide a seamless hospital experience, the space uses natural light and warm materials to enhance healing. 

One of its most advanced features is the triple-paned glass facade, with wood screens between the glass layers to help block solar heat and glare, allowing soft, natural light to fill the buildings’ interiors. This creates a building that balances energy efficiency with a more calming, human-centered environment.

6. University of Glasgow Advanced Research Centre (ARC)

• Location: Glasgow, Scotland
• Year built: 2022
• Typology: Higher education/science

The ARC is the centerpiece of the university’s new campus and breaks down academic and physical barriers. Bringing together more than 500 researchers from multiple disciplines, HOK designed the building to encourage collaboration that wouldn’t typically happen in siloed environments. 

One of the project’s standout features is the public walkway running through the building’s ground floor, making the research process transparent to students and the local community. Rather than separating science and the city, this design breaks down those walls, making them more visible and accessible. 

8. The Francis Crick Institute

• Location: London, UK 
• Year built: 2016 
• Typology: Science + technology/healthcare

The Francis Crick Institute tackles the challenge of ‘siloed science’ by bringing together 1,500 researchers from six different organizations into a single, collaborative hub. To encourage spontaneous interaction, HOK designed the building with a “neighborhood” layout—four blocks of glass-walled laboratories are arranged around a central, light-filled atrium. This layout encourages visibility and interaction, making cross-disciplinary collaboration part of the daily workflow.

The building’s design also addresses massive technical and environmental hurdles. Because laboratory equipment is highly sensitive, a third of the nearly 1 million-square-foot structure is located below ground to reduce vibration from the adjacent railway lines. On the roof, a striking vaulted steel “skin” conceals the massive heating and cooling units while housing over 18,000 square feet of solar panels. These features, combined with high-performance insulation and wild roof gardens, allow the facility to save approximately 35,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide every year compared to a standard laboratory design.

9. DFW Airport Terminal C Pier Expansion

• Location: Dallas, Texas
• Year built: 2030 (Scheduled)
• Typology: Aviation

The DFW Airport Terminal C Pier Expansion is a perfect example of how modern technology can speed up construction without disrupting operations in high-traffic environments. Rather than building on-site, HOK used an innovative modular approach—fabricating six massive megastructures offsite and wheeling them into place in the middle of the night. 

This approach allowed the airport to stay fully operational uder construction, minimizing travel disruptions for passengers and airlines. This project reflects a broader shift in the industry where efficiency isn’t just about speed—it’s about reducing risk and keeping critical infrastructure operating.

10. UCLA Health Neuropsychiatric Hospital

• Location: Los Angeles, California
• Year built: 2026 
• Typology: Healthcare

HOK’s transformation of a former medical center into a world-class mental health facility for UCLA reflects a growing shift in how mental health faciltires are designed. The project uses a concept called trauma-informed design, which focuses on creating a space that feels safe, comfortable, and supportive for everyone inside—elements that traditional medical facilities overlook.

The building features rooftop terraces and private gardens that immerse patients in nature and play a key role in healing, offering patients a quiet escape from the clinical environment. These features aren’t there for just aesthetics—they are an integral part of treatment, helping to reduce stress and support overall well-being.

Further reading:

• Major geothermal energy projects currently under construction in Canada
• Inside HMC projects: Standout architecture across North America
• Large modular housing projects currently underway in North America
• Transportation construction projects currently underway in the U.S.

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Ottawa’s Ādisōke library is getting close, but the final phase is where everything tightens up. The 5-floor, 216,000 sq ft building is now deep into interior work, with exterior cladding mostly complete and systems being installed across multiple floors. Crews are working on detailed finishes, custom-built elements, and mechanical systems simultaneously. It’s also not a typical library—it combines a public space with national archives, which changes how the building is laid out and delivered. As construction moves toward completion, this project shows how much more demanding civic builds have become when sustainability targets, custom interiors, and cultural design are all part of the job.

The project is a joint venture between PCL Construction and multiple specialized contractors with a total approved budget of $334 million. As one of the largest civic builds currently underway in Canada, and as it nears completion, the real challenge is bringing all the details together and delivering on the investment. 

A building with two very different roles

Ādisōke brings together the Ottawa Public Library and Library and Archives Canada into a single structure. While that may sound efficient, it adds significant pressure during construction.

A public library comes to life with all the hustle and bustle of people moving about, needing room to breathe and plenty of space to move with ease. This is the opposite of an archival storage space, which calls for a tightly controlled environment with strictly limited access and a priority on preserving irreplaceable materials.

Those differences carry through the entire build. Mechanical systems have to serve both uses. Structural loads change depending on the space. Layout decisions have to balance openness with control. It’s not a matter of repeating the same setup floor after floor—each area has its own demands.

The archival requirements alone are worth noting. Library and Archives Canada (LAC) holds one of the world’s largest collections, with more than 22 million books, 250 km of textual documents, 35 million photographs, maps, and artwork, and 700 million megabytes of digital records. The environmental controls needed to preserve these materials—temperature, humidity, air quality, and light exposure—must be maintained independently of the rest of the building and built to standards that will last for decades. 

Most of the challenge with this project isn’t what you see from the outside. It’s inside, where the work becomes more specific. Custom-built elements are a big part of it. Fixtures, shelving, and interior features are being fabricated for this building rather than pulled from standard products. That affects how the installation works. Pieces arrive with fixed dimensions and need to fit exactly as planned. If something is off, it can slow down the work around it.

There’s also a strong cultural layer built into the design. The layout reflects Indigenous and local input, which shapes how spaces connect and how people move through them. That influence isn’t something added at the end. It’s built into the project’s structure, so it has to be carried through carefully during construction.

When you combine custom fabrication with design that can’t be easily adjusted, coordination becomes more important; there’s little room to improvise.

What’s happening on site right now

Mechanical and electrical systems are being completed, and finishing crews are now installing walls, ceilings, and detailed surfaces. Millwork and custom elements are being brought in and installed. All of this is happening across multiple levels, often in the same areas. That overlap makes sequencing harder to manage. One trade needs space to finish their work before the next can move in. If something gets delayed, it affects the work around it.

At the same time, the level of precision needed is much higher at this stage. It is not just rough construction anymore. Everything is on show, which makes alignment and fit more important than ever. And if a small issue arises, fixing it can take time, especially when you already have other systems in place.

Ādisōke is aiming for net-zero performance, and that is reflected in how the building is put together. The envelope has to perform at a higher level. Airtightness matters, so careful attention to every joint and transition is essential. Insulation and sealing aren’t things that can be rushed or corrected later without consequences.

The building also connects to district energy and includes systems designed to reduce overall energy use. That makes mechanical and electrical work more connected than usual. Systems need to be aligned from the start, rather than adjusted later.

Material choices play a role as well. Lower-carbon concrete and selected finishes come with different handling and scheduling requirements. These decisions don’t sit in one part of the job—they affect how the work is carried out from early stages through to completion.

Net-zero civic buildings of this magnitude are rare in Canada, which means crews aren’t working from a clear playbook. Reaching net-zero performance in a 216,000-square-foot building that must serve two very different purposes is a technical challenge on another level. The final commissioning phase will be more demanding than typical civic builds, and there’s significantly less room for error in how these systems are installed and perform. 

Why projects like this take longer

Delays on a project like Ādisōke don’t come from a single issue. It’s usually a mix of factors that build over time. Custom fabrication is one. When elements are made specifically for the project, timelines depend on production as much as construction. If something arrives late or needs adjustment, it can slow down the work around it.

Then there is the interior detailing—spaces that demand spotless finishes and perfectly integrated systems take a lot longer to sort out. Crews have to work with precision, making tiny adjustments, and progress can grind to a halt when multiple trades are trying to do their thing in the same area.

Lastly, there’s the issue of coordination. By the time a project gets to this stage, many tasks are interdependent. If one of them falls behind, it can mess up a bunch of others. By the time you reach the final stages, the connections among these tasks can make it difficult to work your way through the problem.

What Ādisōke library says about civic construction

Ādisōke reflects a shift in how public buildings are approached, and you can see it in the way the work is carried out on site.

These projects are no longer built around a single, straightforward use. Spaces are being designed for specific functions, and those functions often come with very different requirements. In this case, open public areas sit alongside controlled archival environments, which affects everything from layout to mechanical systems. That kind of mix makes coordination more important early on, because systems and structure have to support different conditions within the same building.

Performance expectations have also gone up. Net-zero targets and stricter energy standards change how materials are selected, how systems are installed, and how the building is sealed and tested. Crews aren’t only focused on getting the work done—they’re working to tighter tolerances, knowing the building has to perform a certain way once it’s in use.

There’s also a stronger focus on cultural and community input. Design decisions are being shaped before construction starts, and those decisions carry through the build. That limits how much can be adjusted later, which puts more pressure on getting things right early and sticking closely to the plan during construction.

All of this changes how the job runs. There’s more planning up front, more back-and-forth between trades, and once the work starts, everything is much tighter, including timelines. The building is doing a lot more than it used to, and every single part of it has to come together in the right way at the end of the day.

For contractors, the pipeline of similar projects is growing. Canada has invested billions into renewing civic buildings over the next decade, and the expectations of those buildings—sustainability requirements, cultural design integration, complex multi-use—are only going up. The firms building the experience now will be better positioned to bid on projects once they come to market. 

What Ādisōke library tells us about where civic construction is heading

As construction on Ādisōke wraps up, it really shows how far civic construction has expanded. This is a building where meeting performance targets, getting custom interiors just right, and incorporating cultural design influences are part of every step of the build process. For contractors, that means tighter coordination, more detailed work, and a greater focus on getting things right the first time. These kinds of projects are becoming more common, and they’re changing what it takes to deliver them.

Civic construction is becoming more complex, and the projects coming down the pipeline are raising the bar further. For more coverage of the builds, trends, and on-site insights shaping the industry, subscribe to our newsletter.

Modern stadium design is moving away from the era of massive, empty concrete shells that only see action a few times a year. Leading this change is MANICA, a global architecture firm focused on creating high-complexity venues that act as year-round anchors for their cities. We are looking at how their shift toward multi-purpose urban hubs is solving the industry problem of dark days while pushing contractors to master a new level of technical coordination.

About MANICA

MANICA is a boutique shop specializing in the high-pressure design phase of stadium and arena projects. David Manica founded the firm in 2007 with a clear goal: to provide the creative superpower behind a project while partnering with other architects to handle the actual construction documentation. It is a model that lets them focus on the big ideas at some of the world’s highest-profile venues.

Instead of treating a stadium as a closed-off bowl, MANICA starts with the site’s legacy in mind. They are designing buildings that function as open, multi-purpose environments from day one. By integrating high-density retail, hotel rooms, and even community play areas into the structure, the firm ensures the building stays relevant to the neighborhood even when there is no game on the calendar. It is a shift away from the spaceship stadiums that sterilize their surroundings and toward a district that invites people in 365 days a year.

For the construction industry, this evolution changes everything about how we build. Creating a venue that can switch from a massive concert to a football game and then host a private corporate event the next morning requires a massive shift in trade coordination. Contractors now have to manage incredibly complex MEP systems and flexible interior layouts that were unheard of a decade ago. MANICA’s approach demands greater precision in how building systems are integrated, making every square foot of the project work harder.

5 past, present, and future projects from MANICA

1. Allegiant Stadium

• Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
• Year built: 2020
• Typology: Multi-purpose stadium

Allegiant Stadium is the home of the Las Vegas Raiders and the UNLV Rebels, situated right next to the Las Vegas Strip. Visually, the building is inspired by the sleek, aerodynamic lines of a luxury sports car, featuring a black glass exterior that has become a landmark in the desert.

What makes this project truly different is the sheer scale of kinetic engineering. It features a retractable natural-grass field tray weighing 19 million pounds. This tray sits on 540 wheels and moves along 13 rails, allowing the grass to grow outdoors in the sun on non-game days before sliding inside for the main event. The stadium also features four massive lanai doors at the north end, each nearly the size of a basketball court, that slide open to provide fans with a panoramic view of the Las Vegas skyline.

This project solved the problem of bringing real grass to a desert climate without compromising the stadium’s multi-use schedule. From a construction angle, it pushed the boundaries of trade coordination and precision. Contractors had to manage a high-tech cable-net and ETFE roofing system while installing the massive field tray, all on a fast-tracked schedule. To handle the complexity of over 150,000 roof elements, the team even developed custom digital site management tools to ensure real-time quality control.

2. Inter Miami Freedom Park Stadium

• Location: Miami, Florida
• Year built: 2024
• Typology: Multi-use sports and entertainment district

Inter Miami Freedom Park is a 131-acre site that was once a golf course and is now becoming a major tech hub. MANICA’s plan for Inter Miami Freedom Park puts a 25,000-seat stadium right in the center of a huge 58-acre park. It is a huge move for the city, especially when you factor in the 750,000 square feet of retail and commercial space that will be built out around the stadium to keep the area busy year-round.

What makes this project noteworthy is the integration of a stadium-in-a-park concept. Instead of fences and asphalt, the design is woven into 58 acres of public green space and youth athletic fields. The stadium itself features an open-air design that maximizes the Atlantic breeze while using high-tech canopy structures to provide shade for every fan in the building.

This project addresses a major environmental challenge that begins with fixing the ground itself through extensive remediation and drainage systems. The sheer scale of the 131-acre site makes it one of the most complex job sites in the region, especially since the stadium must share its footprint with a new hotel and a commercial park. For the contractors, success comes down to managing the constant flood of materials and workers across three major projects racing toward the same finish line.

3. New Nissan Stadium

• Location: Nashville, Tennessee
• Year built: 2027 (Expected)
• Typology: Enclosed multi-purpose stadium

Nashville’s new 1.8-million-square-foot Nissan Stadium is a huge departure from the typical indoor venue. Most of these big, enclosed spots feel like you’re stuck in a giant shed, but MANICA is using a porch concept to keep it open. They built in wide terraces and exterior spaces that overlook the downtown skyline. It’s a clever way to handle a massive, high-capacity project while keeping it connected to the East Bank rather than a massive obstacle in the middle of it.

What makes this project noteworthy is its high-tech, translucent ETFE roof. This circular-shaped roof system allows natural light to flood the interior, creating an outdoor feel while protecting 60,000 fans from the elements year-round. To ensure the stadium lives up to Nashville’s reputation as Music City, MANICA integrated advanced acoustic ceilings and digital sound systems to handle everything from roaring NFL crowds to world-class concerts.

This project belongs on this list because it is a masterclass in building complexity and sustainability. You can’t drop a 1.8-million-square-foot stadium into a tight spot without serious planning. The jobsite is packed, with a 2,000-person crew navigating a footprint atop the old stadium. To keep the environmental impact down, they are using low-carbon concrete and ditching heavy traditional materials in favor of lighter alternatives. The roof alone is enough to keep a project manager up at night. It is a 360,000-square-foot cable-net system that relies on 68 high-tension steel cables. Getting those cables pulled into place with hydraulic lifts requires a level of precision that you don’t usually see on a standard commercial build.

4. VTB Arena – Park Arena

• Location: Moscow, Russia
• Year built: 2018
• Typology: Multi-use sports and entertainment complex

The layout of the VTB Arena is intense, with a 26,000-seat stadium and a 12,000-seat arena literally sharing the same roof. MANICA stacked these two venues to save space, which allowed them to keep the original stadium’s historic exterior intact. They’ve essentially built a modern sports district underneath the existing site’s footprint. It’s a smart move for a city site where you can’t keep building outward, forcing the design to go vertical to get both football and hockey into the same complex.

What makes this project noteworthy is the stadium-within-a-stadium concept. Instead of building two separate structures that would eat up valuable city land, the design shares common facilities like kitchens, loading docks, and retail zones. The entire complex is wrapped in a glowing, translucent polycarbonate skin that changes color at night, turning the building into a digital canvas visible across the city.

The construction team on this project had to solve a big thermal conflict; building a frozen hockey arena right up against a heated football pitch, which is a recipe for disaster if the insulation isn’t perfect. The contractors had to coordinate a massive MEP layout to ensure the cooling for the ice didn’t fight the heating for the stadium. This required a heavy-duty network of thermal barriers to prevent cross-contamination between the two climates. It’s a level of precision engineering that goes way beyond what you’d see on a standard single-use build.

5. Chase Center

• Location: San Francisco, California
• Year built: 2019
• Typology: Multi-purpose arena and entertainment district

Chase Center is the core of an 11-acre redevelopment called Thrive City in Mission Bay. Most arenas are surrounded by an empty sea of asphalt, but this project flipped that model on its head. MANICA designed it to be a dense, high-traffic meeting place that is actually part of the city. They built it right into the fabric of the neighborhood, surrounding the arena with office towers, retail shops, and a public park right on the waterfront.

What makes this project noteworthy is its complex stacked drum geometry. The building’s massing consists of 14 different drums of varying sizes stacked on top of one another. This unique form required a high-performance rain-screen enclosure comprising over 1,100 mega-panels, each with approximately 7,500 individual metal panels. This intricate facade gives the arena a dynamic, flowing form that reflects the nautical history of the surrounding Bay Area.

This project belongs on this list because it represents a triumph of design-assist collaboration and modular construction. To manage the geometric complexity, MANICA and the construction team used extensive 3D parametric modeling to optimize panel layouts and secondary steel connections. For contractors, the primary challenge was the logistical coordination required to build on a highly congested 11-acre site simultaneously with two adjacent office towers. It serves as a prime example of how modular mega-panel systems can be used to execute high-concept architecture on a tight urban schedule while achieving LEED Gold certification.

Bottom line

The work coming out of MANICA indicates that the era of the single-use stadium is over. For the AEC industry, this means that future projects will be defined by their ability to change. When a building has to function as a professional sports venue one night and a climate-controlled retail hub the next morning, the margin for error in construction disappears. We’re seeing a move toward venues that are more like complex machines than static buildings.

The expertise required of contractors today is next-level, thanks to firms like MANICA. When a design calls for a 20-million-pound field to slide across the floor or a translucent roof made of high-tech film, the old ways of building don’t measure up. You need specialized crews who understand the material science behind ETFE and the heavy-duty mechanics of kinetic steel. In addition to being built on time, all these moving parts and high-tech layers must work together perfectly, so the venue doesn’t experience a mechanical failure a year after opening.

Ultimately, MANICA’s projects prove that success in modern sports construction is built on collaboration. The complexity of these projects requires MEP, structural, and architectural teams to work in a unified digital environment from the outset. As these multi-purpose anchors become the new standard for urban development, the contractors who master this level of multi-trade coordination will lead the industry forward.

Stadium and large-scale venue construction is one of the most technically demanding environments in the industry. For more breakdowns on the firms, designs, and construction challenges shaping high-complexity builds, subscribe to the Under the Hard Hat newsletter.

The Office for Metropolitan Architecture, known as OMA, is a global design firm that builds bold and unusual structures to solve modern city challenges. This article explores how their team uses unique shapes and smart planning to create world-famous libraries, museums, and skyscrapers. Discover how OMA turns every building into a lively public space that breaks the traditional rules of design.

About OMA (Office for Metropolitan Architecture)

OMA was started in 1975 by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas and a group of thinkers who wanted to change how we look at cities. Today, they are a world-leading practice with offices in Rotterdam, New York, Hong Kong, Doha, and Australia.

The firm focuses on urbanism—the study of how buildings and people interact in everyday life—often choosing bold, non-traditional forms that respond to the specific needs of a site. Instead of making every building look the same, OMA creates structures that fit the gritty character of the modern world.

“In the planning of huge buildings…the work becomes much more collaborative; it’s more about engineering, not a purely artistic endeavor,” said Koolhaas in a previous interview. “You need a completely different mentality. I appreciate being part of a greater effort, together with other people.”

8 inspiring projects from OMA

1. CCTV Headquarters

• Location: Beijing, China
• Year built: 2012
• Typology: Office/skyscraper

The CCTV Headquarters is one of the most unconventional skyscrapers ever built—it is a massive three-dimensional cranked loop that appears to defy gravity. Instead of being a traditional tall tower that points straight up, it is formed by two leaning towers, joined at the top and the bottom to create a continuous tube. It’s not just a bold design choice; it changes how the building works. Rather than splitting teams across separate floors, the design brings the entire operation into a single, connected flow.

2. Seattle Central Library

• Location: Seattle, Washington
• Year built: 2004
• Typology: Public library

The Seattle Central Library rethinks how people experience a library. Its trademark ‘Books Spiral’ is a continuous ramp that lets visitors browse the entire nonfiction collection without changing floors, keeping it in a single logical sequence. On the outside, the library is wrapped in a glass-and-steel diamond-shaped skin that pulls natural light into every corner of the building, making what could be a closed-off space into a bright and inviting civic hub.

3. Taipei Performing Arts Center

• Location: Taipei, Taiwan
• Year built: 2022
• Typology: Cultural/theater

The Taipei Performing Arts Center is built around flexibility. Instead of fixed, isolated theaters, the building’s three performance spaces plug into a central glass cube, sharing backstage space and technical equipment. Two of the theaters can be combined into a single massive ‘Super Theater’ with a 100-meter-long stage, giving performers the opportunity for shows that go far beyond what conventional theaters allow. 

4. Buffalo AKG Art Museum

• Location: Buffalo, New York
• Year built: 2023
• Typology: Museum

This expansion adds a brand new glass building to a historic museum campus. It is designed to blur the lines between indoor and outdoor, creating a museum in the park—transparent glass windows connect visitors to nature and the surrounding city. The result is a more open, approachable space that invites community members to step inside and explore the art collection, shifting the museum from a closed institution to an active part of the public sphere.

5. Simone Veil Bridge

• Location: Bordeaux, France
• Year built: 2024
• Typology: Infrastructure / Bridge

At 44 meters wide, the Simone Veil Bridge features the widest concrete deck in Europe—but its impact extends beyond scale. OMA designed this bridge not just for movement, but also for gathering. The bridge functions as a linear city square, offering space for local markets, festivals, and community events. Rather than simply moving people across the water, OMA created a destination of its own—redefining what traffic infrastructure can be in a public landscape. 

6. Fondazione Prada

• Location: Milan, Italy
• Year built: 2018
• Typology: Art Foundation / Mixed-use

OMA transformed an old 1910 distillery into a permanent home for art and culture, showing that adaptive reuse can go beyond just preservation. OMA retained the site’s original historic elements and added bold new structures, notably the Torre, a 60-meter-tall white concrete tower. Inside, the floors change shape as they rise, shifting from rectangles to wedges, creating different types of gallery spaces that alter how visitors experience art while also offering a unique view of the Milan skyline.

7. Harajuku Quest

• Location: Tokyo, Japan
• Year built: 2025
• Typology: Commercial Complex

Located between two uniquely distinct neighborhoods, the Harajuku Quest uses duality in its design to fit into both worlds. One side features a tall, vertical glass facade that matches the busy energy of the main shopping street. The other side uses smaller, human-scale shops and open plazas that align with the quieter residential streets. This design allows the building to function as a bridge—it connects two different parts of the city without disrupting either.

8. New Museum expansion

• Location: New York, New York
• Year built: 2026
• Typology: Museum

The 60,000 square foot expansion of the New Museum will double the museum’s gallery space and mark OMA’s first public building in New York City. Designed with a highly transparent atrium and outdoor plazas, this project is meant to engage the community and expand the museum into the street, making art visible and accessible from the outside. OMA shifts the museum from a closed destination to an integrated part of New York City’s urban fabric.

Further reading

• Largest construction projects currently underway worldwide (2026)
• Inside B+H Architects: Projects that blend culture, place, and innovation
• Landmark Stantec projects shaping cities in Canada and beyond

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Ask around any jobsite in the GTA and the same question keeps coming up: where is steady work going to come from over the next few years? Toronto’s Waterfront East LRT delivers a very clear solution. This line is set to run from Union Station through East Bayfront and into the Port Lands, with robust public funding support and direct links to the planned Waterfront East redevelopment. This isn’t just a transit build. It’s linked to tens of thousands of planned housing units and mixed-use projects that depend on that line moving forward. That’s why contractors are paying attention—this is a long runway, not a one-off project.

What the Waterfront East Transit project entails

The Waterfront East Transit project is a planned light rail extension running east from Union Station through the East Bayfront and into the Port Lands. It follows Queens Quay and connects areas that have been difficult to develop at scale. On the surface, it reads like a standard LRT job—track installation, utility work, stations, and road reconstruction.

But the real story sits beside the alignment. The City of Toronto and its partners have tied this line directly to waterfront redevelopment. The Port Lands and East Bayfront will introduce tens of thousands of new residential units over time, with some forecasts reaching 100,000 units. However, the area will be largely worthless to potential developers without access to public transportation. But with that in place, the timelines for real progress accelerate, and a host of previously slow-going projects suddenly gain traction. This is what makes this project very interesting to watch.

Why contractors are paying attention

Transit work brings a burst of civil activity. Crews come in, complete the build, and move on. This project doesn’t stop there. Once the line is in place, developers can move ahead with projects that have been waiting on access. That includes high-rise residential, mixed-use buildings, retail, and supporting infrastructure along the same corridor. It creates a layered pipeline.

You might start with underground work tied to the LRT, which leads to foundations for nearby towers. From there, interior trades, fit-outs, and long-term maintenance work follow as buildings fill up. Instead of a single contract, it becomes a sequence of work tied to one area.

How public funding is steering where work happens

One of the biggest shifts right now is how coordinated public spending is shaping demand for construction. The Waterfront East LRT isn’t being funded in isolation. It has the backing of municipal, provincial, and federal funds, all of which are focused on preparing the waterfront land for housing. This alignment sends a strong signal to developers that they’re taking the waterfront seriously, and it reduces the uncertainty that normally holds up new projects, so, in theory at least, these projects can now move faster with a more realistic timeline.

What’s also striking is the close relationship between transit funding and increases in the housing supply in cities like Toronto. With all the pressure being put on Toronto to pack in more density, and with transit links being a mandatory requirement for getting major developments approved, the impact is pretty clear: If a site can’t get connected to a transit line, then its chances of moving forward plummet.

Infrastructure-first development is becoming standard practice

Toronto is putting a lot of stock into building the right infrastructure to support its expansion. Funding for public projects is being funneled in from all three levels of government—municipal, provincial, and federal—and it’s all aimed at unlocking new housing opportunities. Transit is at the top of the list, and once a new line opens, development tends to follow. That means contractors need to rethink the way they approach the market. Rather than jumping at every isolated development project that comes their way, they’d be wise to keep an eye on where the infrastructure dollars are going. The areas receiving the most investment often become long-term work zones.

As transit access spreads into areas like the Port Lands and the East Bayfront, you’re starting to see a whole lot more development happening. That’s bringing a steady stream of projects—residential buildings, mixed-use skyscrapers, and public works projects—all clustered along the route. Contractors need to look at this a bit differently. It isn’t just about securing the big LRT contract—it’s about understanding the sequence of work that comes after it. Early on, there’s civil work and getting services in place; then comes vertical construction, and eventually ongoing maintenance of the buildings themselves.

What this means for your pipeline

If you’re planning work beyond the next couple of years, this is the type of project to track early. Start with the corridor. Look at the land in the Port Lands and East Bayfront. Watch which developers are active and when servicing work begins—water, sewer, and roads usually move ahead of vertical builds. That’s your signal.

Getting in early improves your chances of staying involved as projects roll out in phases. There’s also a workforce angle. Long-term activity in one area can reduce travel time, stabilize crews, and help with retention. That matters in a market where skilled labor is still tight.

Projects like Waterfront East are essentially about where cities like Toronto will grow next. They point to the areas where building demand is likely to cluster, which then has a big effect on hiring, equipment usage, and the partnerships that form. The waterfront in Toronto is on the verge of a big change, and the transit line is just the starting point.

If you want to keep track of where work is heading next—and how projects like this translate into real opportunities—join the Under the Hard Hat newsletter.