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Project

BOK Center

The César Pelli-designed arena is the anchor of Tulsa’s Vision 2025, the city’s comprehensive downtown revitalization effort.

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Project Details

Project Partners
Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects & Matrix*Odell, LLC
Owner
City of Tulsa
Completion Date
Area
565,000 ft²
Seating Capacity
19,199
Teams/League
Tulsa Oilers - ECHL
Project Awards

National Council of Structural Engineers Associations, Excellence in Structural Engineering Awards - New Buildings Over $100 Million, 2011

American Institute of Steel Construction, National Award - Innovative Design in Engineering and Architecture with Structural Steel, 2009

Structural Engineers Association of Kansas and Missouri, Structural Engineering Awards Program - New Buildings Over $100 Million, 2009

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BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 2008 - Gayle Babcock, Architectural Imageworks, LLC
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The BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 2008 - Gayle Babcock, Architectural Imageworks, LLC
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The BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 2008 - Gayle Babcock, Architectural Imageworks, LLC
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The BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Thornton Tomasetti
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The BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Thornton Tomasetti
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The BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Thornton Tomasetti
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The BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Thornton Tomasetti
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The BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Thornton Tomasetti
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The BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Thornton Tomasetti

Overview

The 19,199-seat BOK Center is the anchor of Tulsa’s Vision 2025, the city’s comprehensive downtown revitalization effort. The elliptically shaped, 565,000-square-foot, multipurpose facility is home to the ECHL's Tulsa Oilers and accommodates concerts, arena football, basketball and community events. The arena's architectural focus is the Icon Wall, the 75-foot-tall exterior glass wall that extends more than 500 feet across the south façade and is supported at the east end by a soaring 80-foot by 80-foot entry canopy, which appears to float above the main entry without support.

We provided structural design services to Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects & Matrix*Odell, LLC, for the arena, which opened in 2008.

Highlights

  • The arena’s irregular shape and geometry is formed by a series of tapering conical shapes molded together.
  • The roof of the arena is framed by a pair of box trusses, clear spanning 330 feet across the seating bowl. Box trusses and perimeter beams support a system of more shallow shop assembled trusses and purlins.
  • The use of box trusses and perimeter beams allowed for maximum shop pre-assembly, minimized erection schedule and improved site logistics. This approach reduced the project schedule and budget constraints, permitting extra focus and time for the design of the exterior walls.
  • Design and construction of the Icon Wall required early accommodation of constructability into the analysis and design in order to achieve compatibility between the cantilever supporting the wide tributary roof area and glazing assembly.
  • We designed a system of tie-downs to pre-deflect the girder equal to the deflections from the weight of the roof framing, pipe trusses and glazing. By pre-loading the cantilever, glazing joints were kept at a minimum to accommodate deflections from live loads.

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