This September, the 21,000-seat Little Caesars Arena is scheduled to open in downtown Detroit. The $732.6 million arena will be the new homes to the Detroit Red Wings professional hockey team and the Detroit Pistons basketball team.
The Red Wings is owned by Illitch Holdings, whose Olympia Entertainment division will operate the arena, and whose other holdings include the Detroit Tigers baseball team and the Little Caesars pizza chain.
The eight-story arena, owned by the Downtown Development Authority, will anchor The District Detroit, a 50-block, $1.2 billion, 650,000-sf revitalization project that, when completed, will energize five neighborhoods—Columbia Street, Columbia Park, Woodward Square, Wildcat Corner, and Case Park Village—with new businesses, parks, restaurants, bars, offices, retail, and residential spaces. The District’s event destinations will include six theaters and three multi-use sports facilities.
A unique glass-roofed concourse will connect the arena to the offices and shops around it.
Little Caesars is expanding its headquarters in the District with a new $150 million, nine-story, 234,000-sf office building, the first newly built global headquarters in Detroit in a decade. (Blaze Contracting is this building’s GC. Its completion is expected next year.)
To drum up interest in The District Detroit—which is projected to generate $2.1 billion in local economic impact and 1,100 new permanent jobs—Olympia partnered with Detroit-based Zoyes Creative Group to create The District Detroit Preview Center, whose main feature is two large 3D printed models: one of the arena and one of the District.
The arena is the centerpiece of The District Detroit, a revitalization of 50 blocks in downtown Detroit that will add 650,000 sf of new offices, retail, residential, sports and entertainment space. Image: Stratasys Direct Manufacturing
These are among the most intricately detailed 3D printed models ever created. They include light columns, office interiors, vehicles, and—the piece de resistance—a representation of every fan who would be seated in the arena at capacity.
Zoyes uses a Fortus 450mc 3D production system printer. But it quickly realized that it needed help to complete this project on time. So it hired Stratasys Direct Manufacturing, based in Valencia, Calif., whose arsenal includes a Fortus 900mc 3D printer, to assist in the concept modeling.
“No other company would have been able to jump on board as quickly as [Stratasys] did,” says Rich Rozeboom, who directs Zoyes’s imaging department.
The decision to create such elaborate 3D models “changed everything,” says Tom Wilson, Olympia’s president and CEO. Olympia’s original plan was that it would take six months to complete the models, after which it would start selling suites within the arena. But Zoyes and Stratasys completed the suite models in 40 days. “That changed all of our methods, all of our success models,” says Wilson.
He adds “3D printing makes the arena come to life just by making it real. That model puts you in real Detroit.”
The Building Team for the Little Caesars Arena includes HOK (designer), Barton Marlow/Hunt/White (GCs), Magnusson Klemenic Associates (SE), and Smith Seckman Reid (services engineer). A live webcam of the construction can be viewed here.
Related Stories
| Jul 2, 2014
Grimshaw's 'kit of parts' design scheme selected for Qatar sports facilities program
The series of projects, called the Al Farjan Recreational Sports Facilities, have been designed in such a way that the same basic design can be adapted to the specific requirements of each site.
| Jul 1, 2014
Sochi's 'kinetic façade' may steal the show at the Winter Olympics
The temporary pavilion for Russian telecom operator MegaFon will be wrapped with a massive digital "pin screen" that will morph into the shape of any face.
| Jun 30, 2014
Philip Johnson’s iconic World's Fair 'Tent of Tomorrow' to receive much needed restoration funding
A neglected Queens landmark that once reflected the "excitement and hopefulness" at the beginning of the Space Age may soon be restored.
| Jun 30, 2014
Research finds continued growth of design-build throughout United States
New research findings indicate that for the first time more than half of projects above $10 million are being completed through design-build project delivery.
| Jun 26, 2014
Plans for Britain’s newest landmark brings in international cooperation
Designers of the London Eye will team up with companies from France, the Netherlands and the United States to construct i360 Brighton, the U.K.'s newest observation tower.
| Jun 25, 2014
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Spring House, Cincinnati’s Union Terminal among 11 Most Endangered Historic Places for 2014
The National Trust for Historic Preservation released its annual list of 11 Most Endangered Historical Sites in the United States for 2014.
| Jun 20, 2014
Sterling Bay pulled on board for Chicago Old Main Post Office project
Sterling Bay Cos. and Bill Davies' International Property Developers North America partner up for a $500 million restoration of Chicago's Old Main Post Office
| Jun 18, 2014
Six World Cup stadiums have achieved LEED certification
In conjunction with the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced that six World Cup stadiums have achieved LEED certification, including South America’s largest stadium, Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro.
| Jun 18, 2014
Arup uses 3D printing to fabricate one-of-a-kind structural steel components
The firm's research shows that 3D printing has the potential to reduce costs, cut waste, and slash the carbon footprint of the construction sector.
| Jun 16, 2014
6 U.S. cities at the forefront of innovation districts
A new Brookings Institution study records the emergence of “competitive places that are also cool spaces.”
