Sky-Visible 'Translucent Domes' Surge in the U.S.—What About South Korea?

[Anchor]

With professional baseball games being canceled en masse due to unprecedented heatwaves and heavy downpours, calls from fans for dome stadiums are growing louder these days. Amid this trend, a new type of dome stadium gaining popularity in the United States is standing out. Rather than traditional closed domes or retractable domes, these translucent-roofed domes are surging in popularity.

What are their pros and cons, and is there a possibility of them being built in South Korea? Reporter Bae Jeonghun investigated.

[Reporter]

This is the new home stadium of Major League Baseball's Athletics, currently under construction in Las Vegas, U.S.

It features a translucent roof utilizing a material called ETFE, securing lighting comparable to an outdoor stadium, while utilizing glass materials on the sides to capture exterior views as well.

ETFE has a light transmittance of over 90%, but its weight is merely about 1/100th of glass. This makes construction costs much cheaper than retractable domes, which require heavy metal roofs, supporting structures, and opening mechanisms, while offering the advantage of preserving outside scenery and natural light.

SoFi Stadium, where the opening ceremony of the Los Angeles Olympics will be held the year after next and concerts by superstars like BTS are held, used an ETFE roof. Translucent roofs are also scheduled to be used in several stadiums to be built in the future, including the new stadium for MLB's Tampa Bay Rays under construction in hurricane-prone Florida, and the new home stadium of the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs.

As for disadvantages of transparent roof stadiums, relatively high maintenance costs are cited.

Some opinions suggest that building them in South Korea might not be easy due to high repair costs when damages occur on the roof due to severe weather like typhoons, as well as the costs for air conditioning and ventilation systems to prevent a greenhouse effect.

[Baek Won-kyung / Director at Populous Korea, Sports Architecture Designer: Even if there are some concerns about maintenance, the U.S. invests and puts in that effort just to give an outdoor feel. But in reality, that is not a huge issue in South Korea or Japan. (Transparent dome stadiums) are not easy to manage, cost much more....]

While the Cheongna Dome currently under construction and the Jamsil Dome scheduled to break ground next year have both been finalized with traditional steel-framed closed roofs, newly appointed Busan Mayor Jeon Jae-soo's new dome stadium being promoted at the North Port site is reportedly prioritizing a retractable roof while also considering other roof types.

(Video Editing: Park Gi-deok, Design: Han Heung-soo, Screen Source: Athletics, Kansas City Chiefs, Tampa Bay Rays, Hanwha Engineering & Construction, SSG, YouTube (@BuildCore))
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.