San Diego Padres Ballpark/Petco Park
San Diego
Antoine Predock Architect

Stone canyons and garden terraces ring this ballpark

© Timothy Hursley

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Located a few blocks south of San Diego’s historic Gaslamp Quarter, the Padres baseball team’s new home serves as a civic meeting place and focus for future development of the city’s downtown. It also completes the connection between Balboa Park, in the heart of the city, and San Diego Bay, acting as a grand terminus on the waterfront. Architect Antoine Predock, FAIA, conceived of the building as a series of terraced gardens and canyon-like circulation spaces, all feeding into the playing field.

Rather than locate the stadium’s requisite administrative offices, concessions, and lounges underneath the grandstands as is often done in sports venues, Predock moved these program elements to the building’s exterior—carving out space for an open-air, inner concourse. The back of the seating bowl is light and skeletal, which allows natural light and breezes to pass through it and creates visual links from the concourse through to the playing field.

A series of terraced “garden buildings” ring the other side of the concourse and are connected to the grandstands by a series of bridges. As visitors circulate horizontally along the concourse of terraces, the canyon-like space opens to reveal views of the skyline. Additional garden terraces, on the exterior of the building, face the Pacific Ocean and mountains surrounding the city. Bougainvillea and jasmine plants spill over trellises that shelter outdoor dining areas. The color of the stone terraces recalls the tones of the local soil and cliffs at Torrey Pines.

Six ceremonial entry gates lead into the ballpark. The north gate, closest to the Gaslamp Quarter, links to a city park one block distant. Picnic Hill and other grassy slopes in the park allow fans to sit on the ground under eucalyptus trees, picnic, and watch the game. Geographically, visitors might be coming from the nearby Gaslamp Quarter, or from as far away as Tijuana, Mexico, but as they approach the ballpark, paths filter into either the outfield park or various public plazas. Palm courts, jacaranda trees, and water elements then lead fans through the concourse.

Formal name of Project:
San Diego Padres Ballpark/Petco Park

Location:
San Diego

Gross square footage:
1.3 million sq. ft.

Total project cost:
$410 million

Client:
San Diego Padres

Architect:
Antoine Predock Architect PC
300 12th Street NW
Albuquerque, NM 87102
505-843-7390 tel.
505-243-6254 fax
predock.com