re: How are the expansion projects coming?

This thread continues to deliver! I'm fascinated by the differences in design philosophy, particularly in the end zones, and the solutions each school came up with.

Texas A&M


LSU (Taken at Bayou Country Superfest 2014)


LSU's design was based on shoe-horning their expansion into the available space, without having to resort to road work. This is actually the second design drawn up by the architects. The first design, which was based on the existing upper decks on the east and west sides, was rejected by AD Joe Alleva for that reason. He didn't want the disruption to campus life, and the longer time frame in construction that road work would have entailed. So instead of up and out, LSU went vertical with it's expansion, which is an entirely self-supporting structure.

(Older pic of construction progress, showing footprint)


Whereas Texas A&M, which had never had anything more than temporary seating in that end zone, designed a more traditional end zone structure. Unlike LSU's expansion, Kyle Field's new end zone was more about adding general seating, rather than premium seating. LSU took exactly the opposite approach.

Kyle Field


Tiger Stadium


As you can see, the new end zone in Kyle Field is all general seating. By contrast, only around 1,500 seats at the very top of Tiger Stadium's addition are general seating. The remainder of the approximately 8,000 seats being added in total are divided between two rows of suites and two rows of club seating with the new Stadium Club South sandwiched between. There will also be room up top for around 1,500 fans with Standing Room Only (SRO) tickets.



So to sum up, each school had different priorities in expanding, and each came up with creative solutions Can't wait to see all the new expansions in person.