NFL/MLS stadium architect Jon Knight dies

OPEN ENDED: Gillette Stadium, shown here in 2017, was originally designed with open end zones for fans to congregate, jointly developed by architect Jon Knight and New England Patriots president Jonathan Kraft. (AP Photo)

Well-rounded architect stressed innovation

Jon Knight, a sports architect whose signature projects in the NFL and Major League Soccer took design to a higher level of innovation, died on Nov. 20, following a lengthy illness. He was 64.

Knight spent 30 years at Populous, dating to 1989, when the firm was known as HOK Sport. He spent a few years designing other building types for HOK in New York before returning to the company’s sports practice in Kansas City, Missouri. Knight retired in 2019 after compiling an impressive portfolio of more than 20 projects, extending from Gillette Stadium and Heinz Field, now Acrisure Stadium, to Audi Field and Livestrong Park, now Children’s Mercy Park.

“The creative paths he implemented were first class,” said veteran sports construction executive Dale Koger, who worked with Knight on Audi Field, among other projects. “Jon always drew his teams to design solutions that inspired beyond the norms. His friendship and embrace of other colleagues was a road map to  collaborative projects in a high-stress industry. The venues development world has lost a true leader.”

Initially, Knight found his niche working with Dennis Wellner and Scott Radecic as part of HOK’s group in NFL stadium design, which led to his imprint on new venues for the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots.

Apart from new NFL facilities, Knight worked on renovations, studies and master plans for Arrowhead Stadium; Sun Life Stadium, now Hard Rock Stadium; Alltel Stadium, now EverBank Stadium; the Edward Jones Dome; the old Georgia Dome; and proposed NFL stadiums for Anaheim and San Diego, California.

In Greater Boston alone, Knight’s work for the Kraft Group, owner of the Patriots, Major League Soccer’s England Revolution and Gillette Stadium, extended to the Revolution’s practice facility and the TB12 training center at Patriot Place, branded for former Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. Over 20 years, Jon Knight and Jonathan Kraft, president of the Patriots, forged a close relationship that started with stadium development.

Knight had a self-deprecating manner that served him well in working with big league organizations, such as the Patriots, Kraft said.

“Jon was special, because most talented architects have above average egos and are looking to create artistic statements, and that’s more important than listening to their client and the operating issues that are important to them,” he said. “While Jon cared deeply cared about the aesthetic, he never placed it above what we were looking to achieve with the building from a guest experience standpoint.”

Gillette Stadium, which opened in 2002, was among the first NFL venues designed with big, open gathering spaces, which could be developed in the future as trends changed. It was something Knight and Kraft worked on together during the design process.

Last year, the north end was enclosed with construction of  a new 75,000-square club and a bigger videoboard. Three years ago, new concessions and a team store opened in the south end. Knight was unable to work on those improvements due to the nature of his illness, Kraft said.

“We knew back in 1999 when we were designing the building that people didn’t want to just be tethered to their seats,” he said. “Jon embraced those concepts and did an extraordinary job with Gillette. Working with Jon was so much fun, and unfortunately, his unique skills were taken from the industry way too soon.”

Bruce Miller, Populous senior principal and managing director of the Americas, pointed to Knight’s ability to lead a group of people through tough situations, bringing a calmness and sense of humor to the drawing table.

Miller knew Knight well. Both of them started at HOK Sport in 1989 and became neighbors years later in the Brookside community in Kansas City, Missouri, where their children grew up together. They sat next to each other in the office and both rose through the ranks to become members of the firm’s holding board, encompassing a group of senior practice leaders.

Knight will be remembered as the consummate designer with a great appreciation for the breadth of the architectural practice, Miller said. Knight’s father was an architect, resulting in Jon effectively growing up in the business.

“There’s a certain intuition to being the son of an architect,” Miller said. “He chose to specialize in design, but what I respected about Jon is that he could hold his own across any phase of the design and building process, whether it be with the contractor, owner, owner’s rep or other stakeholders. He was incredibly well rounded, one of my contemporaries, and we hit it off because he had that complete tool kit as an architect.”

Years ago, Knight and Miller would take bike rides around Kansas City and Knight would show him some of his civic projects prior to joining HOK Sport. They were simple structures, but full of life and emotion, Miller said, reflecting Knight’s keen sense of design. Knight’s streak of creativity shone through in his work, whether it was a small municipal building, utilitarian in nature, or Children’s Mercy Park, home of Sporting KC, the local MLS team.

At the time it opened as Livestrong Park in 2011, the soccer venue took MLS stadium development to a higher level of sophistication, tied to five premium clubs, the most in that league. It included a tunnel club at midfield, which set a new standard for soccer stadiums on a global basis. Previously, the rule of thumb was that soccer was best viewed from up high in the seating bowl, compared with field level seats in Kansas City.

Sporting KC’s facility set the tone for a new trend in that sport, Miller said.

“It was a step change for that model,” he said. “I remember having discussions with our European brethren (at HOK overseas offices), about doing a tunnel club and they said it’s not going to work. It was a different experience; you saw players enter and leave the field and do their postgame press conference in the club. It was a big innovation at the time and now, (virtually) every soccer stadium is doing them. The idea that you watch the game from an eye to eye level was unique and Jon needs to be credited for it.”