Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which The AJC has described as “shiny, monstrous (and) can’t-miss-it,” has an incredible roof. The $1.5 billion stadium uses amazing technology to manage its (literal) overhead.
1. Its moving panels are very, very huge
Mercedes-Benz Stadium's roof has eight moving panels weighing approximately 500 tons each. These panels, called petals, move in straight lines when they open and close. The petals have 4,000 tons of steel.
More than once, Falcons owner Arthur Blank has called it “the most complicated roof design in the history of the world.”
» A trip to the roof of Mercedes-Benz Stadium
2. It was expensive
The roof is believed to account for hundreds of millions of the stadium’s total $1.5 billion cost.
“It’s just an incredibly one-of-a-kind thing,” said Bill Darden, president of Darden & Co., the firm that oversaw development of the stadium.
3. The roof petals work like railroad cars
The petals sit on bogies, which are mechanisms that sit on rails. To make the roof open and close, The AJC reported in a 2017 tour of the roof, "The bogies move the petals along eight separate tracks, which are attached to the fixed portion of the roof."
“It’s like a railroad car on a railroad track,” Darden said at the time.
The petals are moved independently by 12 electric motors.
» 7 things to know about Mercedes-Benz Stadium
4. Adjustments had to be made to fix a gap
One of the delays in opening Mercedes-Benz Stadium was because extra work was required to fix a gap in the roof.
During the 2017 tour, The AJC reporter could see a spot where “an additional chunk of steel had been bolted to a petal to make an adjustment in the slope.”
5. The opening and closing motion is supposed to look like a camera shutter
The lead architect, Bill Johnson, told The AJC in 2017 the roof will resemble a camera shutter when the petals open and close.
“Even though the petals are going in a true straight line, the geometry allows them to look like they’re moving in a curved motion,” Darden said.
Credit: Bob Andres
Credit: Bob Andres
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