Case Study: The Chicago Bears modernize Soldier Field with Thornton Tomasetti's adaptive reuse expertise

The Chicago Bears complete Soldier Field rebuild 17% faster with Thornton Tomasetti

The Chicago Bears faced the challenge of renovating and expanding the historic Soldier Field stadium on a tight 20-month schedule. The project involved complex geometry, a restricted site, and the task of fitting a modern 61,500-seat stadium bowl within the preserved shell of the old structure. Thornton Tomasetti was engaged to provide structural design, construction engineering, and other services for this adaptive reuse project.

Thornton Tomasetti utilized advanced 3D modeling with Tekla to design the steel frame, which was shared throughout the supply chain to accelerate construction. The solution included designing long cantilevers for seating and implementing twenty-one 20-ton tuned mass dampers to control vibration. This approach allowed the project to be completed 17 percent faster than the best conventional case, successfully delivering the renovated stadium on schedule.

The Chicago Bears