It’s remarkable what an inventive facade can do for a building. SHoP Architects rescued the Barclays Center in Brooklyn from a ho-hum fate when the other project architects, sports arena experts Ellerbe Becket, designed it as a big box after Frank Gehry’s original scheme was discarded for its colossal price tag. Wrapped in 11,500 unique metal panels with a pre-weathered finish, the facade’s swooping, nine-metre-high canopy – an otherworldly ring – hovers above the broad civic plaza, which was designed to allow passersby a glimpse into the sunken 18,000-seat arena bowl. Home of the Nets and, beginning in 2015, the Islanders, the Barclays feels as tough and brash as its neighbourhood.
Barclays Arena
