Construction well underway at new Exposition Park soccer stadium

Residents of Exposition Park and drivers on the 110 freeway have surely noticed the enormous, nest-like structure going up just southeast of the Coliseum. That would be the Banc of California Stadium—future home of new Major League Soccer franchise the Los Angeles Football Club.

The 22,000-seat stadium, rising from the grave of the demolished Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, has been under construction since last year and is on track to open in time for the 2018 season, which begins in spring.

Plenty of work remains before then, but the shell of the structure has already taken shape. On Friday, the project’s developers invited Curbed and others to take a look around the project.

Designed by Gensler, the $274 million open air venue will also include adjacent shops, restaurants, and conference space, which are also now under construction. Along with the forthcoming George Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, it’s one of at least two projects set to reshape the landscape of Exposition Park in coming years.

The design of the stadium, which includes steeply ascending seating and overhanging shade structures, is meant to provide an intimate fan experience, according to Gensler principal Jonathan Emmett. The incline of the seats will keep fans close to the field and the shade structures overhead will help trap some of the crowd noise, keeping the stadium loud during home games.

Soon, the white exoskeletons above the bleachers will be covered over with a thin film to complete the canopy effect, while allowing a bit of light to pass through (so as not to cast too harsh a shadow on the field).

Take a look at the photos below to see how work is progressing on the new stadium.

• LA's Getting a New Soccer Stadium in Exposition Park [Curbed LA]
• Mapping all of Exposition Park's attractions [Curbed LA]
• Mapped: The future sites of LA's 2028 Olympic games [Curbed LA]