After having already unveiled plans to develop Jacksonville’s Shipyard district, the Kansas-based firm Populous has released plans for their Jacksonville Jaguars’ Amphitheater and Flex Field project. 

With steel bridges that stretch over the St. John’s River, Populous, as they say on their website, are intent on delivering “an icon to the City of Jacksonville.” Populous specializes in stadia, sports facilities and event architecture.

The firm has already released their plans to transform the Shipyard district into a space for recreation and entertainment, a scheme also backed by the Jaguars’ owner Shahid Khan. There, the plan is to rejuvenate the area and kick-start a fruitful period of economic activity. Now Khan has his eyes set on developing his teams stadium vicinity.

The area appears to be a happy hunting ground for the firm. In 1995, they designed what the New York Times called the “nation’s most luxurious locker room.”

An undulating prefabricated canvas spans the “flex field” whose roofscape is supported by a series of long-span steel trusses, sloped columns, and an array of cables. Multipurpose arenas are almost an economic necessity for the contemporary stadium typology and Populous’ scheme is no exception. The canvas roof system also allows the space to be brought to life with “dramatic” LED lighting when used for entertainment purposes, while also doubling up as a football training facility.