SWA’s master plan for the three Nordic Events venues—the Ski Jumping, Cross Country Skiing, and Biathlon stadia and courses—honors the natural beauty of a spectacular Olympic Winter Games landscape as never before. The venues were originally slated to be located in separate valleys, requiring athletes and spectators to travel between sites. But in PyeongChang, SWA departed from that logic and instead took their cues from the landscape itself, resulting in the most compact design in Olympic Winter Games history. Locating all events in one valley achieved two goals: creating the most efficient and exciting experience for athletes and visitors to the Games, and minimizing disruption of the region’s steep terrain and pristine pine forests. In PyeongChang, pedestrians flowed along a continuous promenade between these venues, saving hours of shuttle bus time while also being immersed in a high-octane sports experience. The arrival sequence to the Ski Jumping Stadium is choreographed to build viewer excitement, beginning with a plaza flanked by three practice jumps, the monorail station—which transports athletes, coaches, and officials to the tower and Large Hill and Normal Hill in-runs—and culminating in the Ski Jumping Stadium itself. The design was created for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games bid and ultimately built to bolster Korea’s successful 2018 bid. The venue remains active in summer with an 18-hole golf course, roller-blade training, and a soccer pitch, replacing the snow sports.
JW Marriott Charlotte
The JW Marriott Charlotte, developed by White Lodging and designed by HKS, is a striking 21-story luxury hotel that redefines modern elegance in a prime downtown setting. This urban mixed-use hotel seamlessly integrates sophisticated design elements throughout every space. The 7,500-square-foot amenity deck is a true designer’s vision, featuring custom tile mo...
Minute Maid Park
The much-anticipated ballpark for the Houston Astros, which opened in 2000, includes approximately 42,000 seats, a retractable roof, an attached micro-brewery, and tour bus drop off. SWA, along with Rey de la Reza Architects, designed the entire ballpark site from the building to the curb, including the remodeling of historic Union Station, now part of the sta...
Miller Lite House Plaza
Gameday celebrations begin before entering the stadium for Dallas Cowboys fans at AT&T Stadium, among the largest NFL venues. The Miller Lite House Plaza is anchored by a 70-yard turf football field, aligned to match the stadium field orientation with matching graphics. Existing Live Oak groves were maintained to the north and south of the field, creating ...
Great Park
One of the world’s largest municipal parks, the 1,300-acre Great Park in Irvine, California, is currently under construction with phased openings continuing through 2029. The conceptual framework encompasses redesign and implementation of near- and longer-term uses, with the intent to “put the park back into the park.” The vast site, which was once the Marine ...