Nationwide Capital Planning Fee chairman Will Scharf has prompt the deliberate stadium by structure studio HKS for the NFL workforce Washington Commanders ought to have a “classical” design.
In response to reporting by Washington Enterprise Journal, Scharf stated the stadium ought to incorporate “architectural options consistent with the capital extra usually – classical, neoclassical components that may align it with the capital that it’s going to basically overlook”.
Scharf was appointed by president Donald Trump to run the Nationwide Capital Planning Fee (NCPC), which oversees growth within the Nationwide Capital Area, in July 2025.
Arenas of antiquity
“I feel actually going again to classical antiquity, arenas and stadiums have performed a significant position within the city cityscape,” Scharf reportedly stated.
“I feel there have been a number of many years in American historical past the place we sadly actually obtained away from that, a lot to the detriment of the fan expertise.”
The Washington Commanders stadium, which is at the moment being designed, is deliberate for a web site throughout the Nationwide Capital Area at the moment occupied by the RFK Stadium (pictured). Nevertheless, the proposed web site is run by the DC Council after laws transferred jurisdiction from the Nationwide Park Service to ensure that the redevelop to happen.
Which means whereas the land is federally owned out is run by the district. The redevelopment is not going to use federal funds and the district will lease the location to the workforce.
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As a result of the stadium falls exterior of DC’s Central Space, the NCPC doesn’t have to approve the event, however as an alternative performs an advisory position. Scharf reportedly didn’t subject any formal suggestions on the design.
“The Fee anticipates reviewing the stadium undertaking at an upcoming assembly the place an official motion might be taken,” an NCPC spokesperson advised Dezeen.
The gesture in direction of classical design matches in with the broader place the Trump administration has taken in direction of the capital and in direction of federal structure on the whole. In August 2025, Trump signed the Making Federal Structure Stunning Once more govt order, mandating “classical” and “conventional” structure as the popular fashion for federal constructing tasks.
The president has taken a private stake within the new stadium and prompt that the stadium be named after him. Nevertheless, naming rights in the end stick with the workforce.
A civic landmark
HKS was chosen by the Washington Commanders in November as lead architect for the roofed, 65,000-seat stadium and growth of the encircling web site. It should changed the 64-year outdated RFK Stadium designed by George Leighton Dahl.
“The stadium can be envisioned as a civic landmark for Washington, DC, with monumental structure and vibrant public areas that come alive on sport days and all year long,” stated HKS in a launch on the time.
“Collectively, the stadium and new surrounding district will reconnect the town to the Anacostia River, catalyze funding on the town’s east aspect and create a vacation spot for residents and guests that thrives past sport day.”
HKS has but to launch official designs for the stadium, with an announcement anticipated quickly.
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The studio stated that it’s going to host further group engagement conferences, with building deliberate to start in 2027 forward of a gap in 2030. The Washington Commanders are at the moment taking part in at a stadium in Maryland.
Latest stadium designs by HKS have been extraordinarily fashionable in kind, together with SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, which hosts the NFL groups the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers.
Classical particulars on stadiums are usually not exceptional, with Chicago’s Soldier Discipline that includes colonnades from its unique design.
The photograph of RFK Stadium is by Duane Lempke Images.
