Oklahoma City Hires Architecture Firms For New Thunder Arena

Oklahoma City hired two architecture firms to design the city’s new arena. On Tuesday, the city council voted to approve the contract with the team that will create the new home for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

“It's a big day on this journey and obviously many more big days ahead,” said Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt. “This is one of those days you can really recognize how far the city has come.”

Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt says the city’s future is bright and ever-changing. “It really is a day for dreamers,” Mayor Holt said. “The next step is really seeing what we can create.”

At the helm of this dream team are two firms, Manica Architecture and TVS, now tasked with designing the city’s new arena. “Obviously with the budget we have and the aspirations that we have we really have the opportunity to be cutting edge in every way,” said Mayor Holt.

The new $900 million arena will be designed using digital models and virtual reality. “You can literally walk through the building and see all the spaces and how they interact with each other,” said Project Manager David Todd of the software. “

Project Manager David Todd is confident the team will give the city something special. “It's really a good marriage between the two and they've done this before,” Todd said. 

It's their past work that helped to seal the deal. Specializing in sports and entertainment venues, the team designed several projects together including the Chase Center in San Francisco, the Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, and a new stadium for the Chicago Bears. “It's really exciting that we can start designing and that here pretty soon we'll start seeing what this building's gonna look like,” Todd said.

The arena will be at least 750,000 square, meeting NBA specifications and requirements, and will maximize team revenues, ensuring the sustainability of major league professional sports in Oklahoma City. The city will own and be responsible for maintaining and operating the new arena, which will be home to the Oklahoma City Thunder NBA team.

In a statement, Oklahoma City Thunder Chairman Clay Bennett said:

“Oklahoma City is in the midst of an exhilarating transformation, evolving in ways we've never seen before. The prospect of our new arena signals even greater milestones ahead, heralding continued success and achievement for both our city and state. 

The partnership with David Manica and his outstanding architecture team provides an extraordinary opportunity for an innovative venue that promises to elevate Oklahoma City’s sports, entertainment, and cultural landscape. His visionary approach, combining cutting-edge design with functionality and aesthetic appeal, has resulted in award-winning architectural achievements that foster community engagement.

Each of David Manica’s projects has distinctly transformed the geography and skyline of its location, while significantly enhancing the potential for an exceptional guest experience.

I’m personally very much looking forward to the creative process and learning how our new arena will be visioned and designed, as well as seeing a concept brought forth that will be the pride of every citizen.”

Todd says the design process will begin immediately, and construction will start in 2026. The arena will be built where Prairie Surf Studios, formerly the Cox Convention Center, is located. The existing building is expected to be demolished in 2025.

The Thunder will continue to play home games at Paycom Center until the new arena opens with a target completion date of June 2028.