Home > Decoration Encyclopedia > Bjarke Ingels Group May Include a Moat in Its Design for the Washington Redskins’ New Stadium

Bjarke Ingels Group May Include a Moat in Its Design for the Washington Redskins’ New Stadium

by Rick Anderson

It might seem counterintuitive for a team in the National Football League to build a smaller stadium than the one where it currently plays. Yet that’s exactly what the Washington Redskins plan to do. Team owner Daniel Snyder has said he wants a more “intimate” venue, like the team’s old Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington, D.C., which held just over 46,000 spectators. Now, architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) has designed a new Redskins stadium with 60,000 seats, roughly 20,000 fewer than are available at FedExField, in Landover, Maryland, where the team now plays.

In a 60 Minutes special that aired mid-March, BIG showed off a design that incorporates a tiered parking structure, with space for 25,000 cars that will surround the venue, and a moat (yes, a moat) with bridges meant to help organize foot traffic for ticketholders into and out of the stadium. In the past, fans have complained of poor experiences at the Redskins’ current home field, including limited parking and poorly designed spaces that created long lines for those entering the stadium.

A view of the moat outside of the stadium.

In recent years, tailgating has become a big addition to the football scene. According to Forbes, an estimated $10 billion to $20 billion is spent each year on pregame activities. With its rise in popularity, BIG made sure to do everything possible with the layout to enhance the tailgating atmosphere. As architect Bjarke Ingels told 60 Minutes , the new stadium “is designed as much for the tailgating … as the game itself.”

The proposed stadium is more circular than rectangular, a design change that will do away with the traditional multileveled stadium, so that “all the fans can see each other,” BIG said in a statement. There is currently no word as to when or where the new Washington Redskins stadium will be built.

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