by Shane Henson — August 8, 2011—Soccer fans are enjoying the custom-built canopy at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park, a new soccer venue in Kansas City, Kansas, nearly as much as the game itself, say the designers. The stadium’s polycarbonate canopy measures more than 1,800 feet long, ranging from 25 feet to 70 feet in depth.
The firm responsible for design engineering of the stadium’s canopy—reportedly the largest polycarbonate stadium canopy in North America—is Duo-Gard Industries. Located in Canton, Michigan, Duo-Gard specializes in custom design, engineering and fabrication of architectural canopies, often involving high-performance polycarbonate glazing technology and structural framing innovations.
In addition to being aesthetically pleasing, the translucent crystalline canopy shades all 18,500 seats, yet allows diffused sunlight to flood the field. Its hard surface also accentuates sound and resists hail and other impacts, yet weighs less than glass.
The canopy actually integrates two complementary components. The steel structure is cantilevered 95 feet, and supports a metal deck that flows into the two-tiered polycarbonate deck cantilevered three feet off the metal. The glazing is 25mm triplewall clear polycarbonate, allowing 80% light transmission. Duo-Gard’s aluminum framing system features a specially engineered base plate, pressure plate and curved cap that conceals the fasteners.
Duo-Gard president David Miller said the project was the company’s largest and most challenging to date.
