Leading Sports and Entertainment Architect Dan Meis to Head Woods Bagot Sport

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 21, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Woods Bagot announced today that award-winning sports and entertainment architect Dan Meis, FAIA, will lead the firm's new global group, Woods Bagot Sport. One of a small number of sports specialists worldwide, Dan's past notable projects include Staples Center in Los Angeles, Safeco Field in Seattle, Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, and facilities at the United States Tennis Association's National Tennis Center in Queens, New York.

As Global Director of Woods Bagot Sport, Dan will expand his Los Angeles-based team to include design and technical experts in New York, London and Sydney. The new group will continue Meis's current projects including the new NFL Stadium at Grand Crossing in Los Angeles and a 50,000-seat, multi-use venue for the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Dan also is leading conceptual design efforts for a new stadium for soccer club AS Roma in Rome, Italy, and Sports City Stadium in Doha, Qatar, for the 2022 FIFA World Cup (in association with Aedas).

Ross Donaldson, Woods Bagot's Group Managing Director, said the move anticipates changing demands. "The formidable economics of sports development is spurring new models for state-of-the-art, year-round destinations and innovative approaches to their development, design and delivery." Donaldson continued, "With Dan's deep expertise in the sports sector and Woods Bagot's diverse capabilities -- from planning mixed-use urban districts, to advanced technical design, to supporting public-private partnerships -- our Global Studio now offers the breadth of knowledge this new era requires."

Meis has designed sports and entertainment facilities for 25 years and is well recognized as an industry leader. He has twice made the Sports Business Journal "40 under 40" list of top sports industry executives, and in 2001, Time magazine named him among its "100 Innovators in the World of Sports." His work also has been recognized for enhancing business success through design, a goal of ever increasing importance in the sports sector.

"One challenge of being an expert in anything is recognizing when to think outside the box of the proven approaches. And this unprecedented sea change in the sports-entertainment experience driven by advancing display and mobile technologies, social media and 24/7 sports networks, calls for fresh thinking," said Meis. "We've tuned Woods Bagot Sport to deliver highly creative and innovative solutions that recognize the opportunity this evolving building type represents and help owners to develop new revenues."

Previously, Meis was a co-founding partner of NBBJ Sports and Entertainment and a senior principal with Populous. In 2006, he was elected to the American Institute of Architects, College of Fellows, recognizing his contribution to advancing the practice of sports architecture.

About Woods Bagot

Woods Bagot is a leading global design and consulting firm, with a team of over 800 people working across Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East and North America. The firm's unique 'Global Studio' philosophy drives unprecedented knowledge sharing and true collaboration across time zones, producing innovative, inspired and functional design solutions for clients. Underpinning Woods Bagot's knowledge culture is Public, their research arm, created in collaboration with leading thinkers and academics.

With a 140-year legacy of design excellence, Woods Bagot has been recognised with nearly 50 global awards over the past two years, including WAN 2012 winner for St Vincent's Private Hospital Young Adults Mental Health Unit (Healthcare Centre); Asia Pacific Property Award 2012 for Shijiazhuang International Exhibition & Convention Centre (Best Public Service Architecture, China); AJ 100's International Practice of 2009 and the Asian Most Admired Knowledge Enterprise (MAKE) award in 2011.

The firm's diverse portfolio of high-profile projects includes:  China Southern Airport City (Guangzhou), South Australian Health & Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), National Australia Bank (Melbourne), 100 Bishopsgate (London), Qatar's Science and Technology Park (QSTP), Melbourne's Convention and Exhibition Centre (in joint venture with NHArchitecture), Ivy, Sydney (in  collaboration with Merivale, Cornwell Design, Hecker Phelan and Guthrie), the Nakheel Tall Tower (Dubai) and Sunshine Insurance Tower (Beijing) and Shijiazhung Convention Center in China.

SOURCE Woods Bagot