Designed and built to realize its owner’s vision of “a temple for basketball and performing arts for the 21st century,” the iconic new Intuit Dome is a game-changer for high-performance sports and entertainment venues worldwide. Combining architectural and engineering innovations with cutting-edge technology, Intuit Dome offers an exceptional fan experience like no other while redefining the standards for sustainable arena design and community impact.
Opened on August 15, 2024, Intuit Dome is the new home of the NBA’s LA Clippers and the heart of a groundbreaking $1.8 billion arena complex in Inglewood. Built for fans guided by the distinct vision of Clippers’ owner Steve Ballmer, Intuit Dome has reset every aspect of the live sports experience.
AECOM led the core design team for Intuit Dome, which included Anderson Barker Architects, Hood Design Studio, City Design Studio, Walter P. Moore, Henderson Engineering, and Labib Funk & Associates. Consistent with the overall ethos of the project, many of the design partnerships were with local and diverse firms. A joint venture of AECOM Hunt and Turner Construction managed the construction.
As the lead designer, AECOM pushed the boundaries to create a unique, high-performance design that represented the character of the LA Clippers and the city itself – vital, powerful, and exciting. Just as importantly, the arena needed to tune into and work well within the context of its surroundings – creating an authentic experience of place, purpose, and community. Key efforts that helped the AECOM team achieve these goals:
A focus on fans
Intuit Dome provides a multidimensional guest experience with myriad features that prioritize the fans, including a multi-purpose public plaza at the front entrance of the arena, complete with a large media screen, concert stage, community basketball courts, and space for people to gather. The plaza allows all visitors, even those not attending an event, to join in.
Efficient layout, operations and technology provides visitors with a comfortable, convenient and “frictionless” experience from ticketing and parking to “grab-and-go” concessions to minimize time away from their seats. In the same vein, the arena has 120 restrooms, more than any other NBA venue.
Inside, Intuit Dome’s 17,800-seat arena has been designed to bring fans closer to the action and give them the best sightlines and most legroom in the NBA, whether they’re sitting in premium locations courtside or in the upper bowl. “The Wall,” an uninterrupted section of 51 rows of seats located behind the visiting team’s bench, is intended to draw the Clippers’ most passionate fans and give the team a distinct home court advantage. The innovative design of the unique halo-shaped LED scoreboard – almost a full acre of double-sided displays – brings statistics and replay footage for the audience at an unmatched scale.
Innovation in architectural and engineering design
Intuit Dome’s architecture maximizes the favorable Southern California climate, with a gridshell enclosure that encompasses the arena and team-related program space, as well as informal spaces like indoor/outdoor terraces linking primary interior levels to the outdoors. The gridshell is a standout feature of the visually dynamic and structurally efficient design, a steel frame with diagrid geometry inspired by the elegant form of a basketball net as a ball passes through it. The unique building skin comprises a series of diamond-shaped, interwoven PTFE and ETFE panels with multiple uses that adapt over the different building areas.
Emphasis on sustainability
A key motivator behind Intuit Dome’s design features and user experience is a strong commitment to carbon neutrality and sustainability. Intuit Dome embraces enhanced environmental performance with an indoor-outdoor approach that allows for a naturally ventilated entrance and upper concourse. The gridshell carries a system of flexible, durable PTFE and ETFE membrane panels that modulate wind, sun, and rain. The venue uses 100% outdoor air within the arena bowl, reducing energy consumption, enhancing thermal comfort, and providing significant health benefits.
Intuit Dome secured LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, designed to operate 100% carbon-free from day one. It is a fully electric venue, powered by energy collected from a solar panel farm built into the stadium roof and stored in on-site batteries. The facility has enough storage to power a full basketball game or concert even if cut off from the power grid.
A commitment to social value and community impact
Intuit Dome’s connection to the surrounding neighborhood was a critical aspect of the project. The LA Clippers worked with the City of Inglewood on a far-reaching $100 million benefits package as part of the effort— funding for schools, housing, infrastructure, and jobs were part of the commitment to develop an arena with positive community impact.
Located on historically underutilized parcels of land deemed unsuitable for residential development by the City, Intuit Dome has transformed the space into a vibrant community asset that will be a source of civic pride and an engine for economic growth.
Project leaders and the AECOM team worked with key stakeholders to forge a lasting investment in Inglewood and surrounding communities. Intentional and strategic efforts for business inclusion and workforce development identified local and minority businesses in the building trades to bring them on to the project and share in its successes. With an eye to the next generation, efforts also included education and local youth, with programming ranging from student tours of the arena site to career fairs with a science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) focus. Through the Intuit Dome project, AECOM also established the first-ever pre-apprenticeship program for Inglewood Unified School District to support high-school students interested in the building trades with opportunities after graduation.
Construction of the venue created more than 7,000 full and part-time jobs. It is expected to provide up to 1,500 permanent jobs and generate $260 million in annual economic activity, augmenting the area’s well-established sports and entertainment district anchored by the nearby SoFi Stadium and the Forum. Prior to construction of the Intuit Dome and SoFi Stadium (2016-2020), Inglewood’s unemployment rate hovered at 17%; with the advent of these two projects, it has since declined to around 4%.
Intuit Dome was planned and designed to play the long game for Inglewood– to support the ongoing economic and cultural revitalization of this majority-minority city and create long-term benefits for its residents, nearby communities, and the larger Los Angeles region for years to come.