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How this KC-designed (and 3D-printed) stadium torch will light the Chiefs’ way to Super Bowl LVIII
Nearly four years after it was unveiled in Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium, the Al Davis Memorial Torch will serve as a beacon of light — and hometown spirit — for a Kansas City Chiefs team set to take on their 2020 Super Bowl rivals.
Designed and developed by Kansas City-based Dimensional Innovations, the 93-foot stadium torch features the Raiders logo and commemorates the late Al Davis, principal owner and general manager of the Raiders organization for nearly four decades.
Al Davis Memorial Torch at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas; photo courtesy of Dimensional Innovations
Standing over 9 stories tall, the centerpiece of Allegiant Stadium will make its Super Bowl debut Feb. 11 when the Chiefs take the field for a rematch against the San Francisco 49ers.
The KC-designed structure originally made headlines after appearing on Monday Night Football in September 2020.
“Our firm had never met a project of this scale or complexity,” said Justin Wood, sports practice director for Dimensional Innovations. “In fact, nobody had. Our team worked relentlessly to develop, print, fabricate, test and install the memorial torch to ensure it conveys the symbolic flame that burns brightest in the Raiders organization. We couldn’t be more excited for fans to experience this marvel from up close and afar during ‘the Big Game.’”
The Al Davis Memorial Torch is constructed of 226 3D-printed blocks made of carbon fiber, reinforced polycarbonate composite, each weighing about 350 pounds. More than 100,000 pounds of raw materials were used to print the blocks, which were then machined on a five-axis router to a tolerance of approximately the width of a human hair.
Additionally, 1,148 unique surface panels, made from more than 35,000 pounds of raw aluminum, make up the reflective surface of the torch. Each was robotically painted and boasts a custom finish for seamless reflectivity while showing contrast between the Raiders logo and the base finish.
Check out the photo gallery of the structure’s creation process and completed look, then scroll down to keep reading.
Tucker Trotter, Dimensional Innovations
The lower portion of the torch is clear coated to display a 21st century woodgrain — the layered texture resulting from the printed polycarbonate carbon fiber composite. Eighteen employees dedicated nearly 50,000 hours to develop, create and install the structure. It has been the stadium’s showpiece since its unveiling in 2020, when Davis’ wife Carol was first to light it in his honor.
“The enormity of the torch, both physically and ideologically, will carry on the memory of Mr. Davis for years to come,” Tucker Trotter, CEO of Dimensional Innovations, said in 2020. “And we’re proud to have played a part in that.”
In addition to working alongside Mark Davis and the Raiders organization, Dimensional Innovations collaborated with MANICA Architecture, original conceptual designer of the torch and stadium; Mortenson-McCarthy, general contractor; HNTB, architect of record for Allegiant Stadium; Ultratech Aerospace; A. Zahner; Bob D. Campbell Engineering; Astound Group; and Purdue University in its design and creation.
Dimensional Innovations, an experience design, technology, and fabrication firm with a national presence, partners with professional and collegiate sports teams, Fortune 500 companies and brands, entertainment giants, and world-renowned hospitals to develop engaging experiences within a physical space.
A team of brand strategists, animators, fabricators, interior designers, graphic designers, architects, interactive and environmental designers, and digital engineers collaborate together in 140,000-square-feet of design and fabrication space to create some of the most talked about experiences across the country.
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