LA Clippers has issued the first images of the planned Inglewood arena it hopes to call home from 2024.
The NBA basketball team’s proposed 18,500-seat arena will have a three-dimensional oval design with an exterior of diamond-shaped metal panels inspired by the concept of a basketball swishing through a net. The panels have been designed to provide solar benefit for maximum energy efficiency, as part of the facility’s LEED GOLD-certified design.
In addition to the arena, the proposed Inglewood Basketball & Entertainment Center complex located on West Century Boulevard between South Prairie Avenue and South Yukon Avenue will include the team’s business and basketball offices, training facility, community and retail spaces.
The complex will also feature an indoor/outdoor ‘sky gardens’ area where food and beverages will be accessible from every concourse level. A multi-purpose plaza complete with concert stage, community basketball courts and space for community events is also planned.
“My goal is simple. I want the Clippers to have the best home in all of sports,” said Clippers chairman Steve Ballmer.
“What that means to me is an unparalleled environment for players, for fans, for sponsors and for the community of Inglewood. Our goal is to build a facility that re-sets fans’ expectations while having a transformative impact on the city we will call home.”
The Inglewood Arena will revitalise mostly vacant land under the flight path of Los Angeles International Airport. The project is targeted for completion by fall of 2024, following the expiration of the Clippers’ lease at STAPLES Center.
The project is being developed by Wilson Meany, with the Inglewood Basketball & Entertainment Center designed by AECOM.
“We challenged the architects and designers on this project to create a landmark facility that exceeds current environmental standards and they have surpassed expectations,” said Chris Meany of Wilson Meany. “The new Clippers arena demonstrates that environmental protection and economic development need not be mutually exclusive.”
It is estimated the complex will generate an estimated $268m in economic activity for Inglewood annually, and more than $190m in new tax revenue from 2020-2045.
The proposed complex is across the street from a stadium that will be the home of the NFL’s Rams and Chargers beginning in 2020. It is also less than a mile from the Forum, whose owner, Madison Square Garden Co., is engaged in a bitter legal fight with Clippers president Ballmer over land close to the proposed arena.
An environmental review of the land is also pending, but the LA Times said Ballmer is confident construction will begin by the middle of 2021.
Images: LA Clippers
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