Sports architect Dan Meis, a chief designer of Staples Center, Safeco Field and Lincoln Financial Field with more than 25 years of experience, has joined Woods Bagot as its global director of sports.
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Meis
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Woods Bagot is a 143-year-old company founded in Australia with 14 worldwide offices, including New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The firm has designed some small arenas in Australia and the Middle East but none to the level of sophistication of big league facilities in North America, said Woods Bagot CEO Ross Donaldson.
Meis, in his new position, is responsible for expanding the firm’s presence in sports overall with a focus on design work for arenas and stadiums in the U.S., Donaldson said.
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Among the projects Meis is bringing with him is an indoor football stadium for UNLV.
Image by: WOODS BAGOT
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As part of the move, Meis brings a handful of projects to his new employer that he has been working on over the past several years. Those projects cover two deals tied to developer Majestic Realty, an $800 million NFL stadium proposed for suburban Los Angeles and an indoor college football facility for the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. Earlier this year, Meis was hired by Boston-based financier Raptor Group to design a new stadium in Rome for Italian soccer club AS Roma.
Meis’ portfolio extends to stadium designs for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where about 100 design teams have submitted proposals.
It was during Meis’ work in Qatar in May that he first crossed paths with Woods Bagot. Company officials contacted Meis to join their design team, which he did, and the alliance ultimately led him down a path toward full-time employment with Woods Bagot. He was officially hired in July.
With Woods Bagot, Meis will retain his office in Venice, a beachfront Los Angeles neighborhood. His staff of three designers — Xan Young, Scott Ferebee and Frank Sharpe — plus Joshua Boren, director of business development, remains intact.
Over the years, Meis has worked for the old Ellerbe Becket, NBBJ and most recently, Populous, in addition to running his own practice.
