10 Game-Changing Entertainment Venues Designed by Populous

A generation raised on livestreams, gaming, social media, and on-demand content is changing the way entertainment is experienced. Today’s audiences expect more than a seat and a stage: they seek immersion, interaction, and a sense of belonging. In response, venues are evolving into destinations where live events, digital media, hospitality, and community come together.

Populous has been at the forefront of this transformation. From esports arenas and broadcast hubs to large-scale concert venues, these projects showcase how architecture is adapting to new forms of entertainment. The following ten venues highlight Populous’s approach of accommodating the changing demands of performers, fans, and digital audiences alike.

1. Sphere, Las Vegas, United States

Located near the Las Vegas Strip, Sphere is designed by Populous in collaboration with Sphere Entertainment. The venue is defined by its iconic spherical form, rising 366 feet and spanning 516 feet. Its exterior is wrapped in the world’s largest LED display system, transforming the building itself into a dynamic digital canvas visible across the city. Inside, a 160,000-square-foot wraparound LED screen surrounds audiences with ultra-high-resolution visuals, while advanced spatial audio technology delivers precise sound throughout the venue. The bowl configuration was engineered to ensure uninterrupted sightlines.

The venue gained international attention with its opening residency by U2 and has since hosted performances by Dead & Company alongside large-scale experiences such as Postcard from Earth.

2. Fortress Sydney, Sydney, Australia

Located within Sydney’s Central Park precinct in Chippendale, Fortress Sydney is designed for esports, gaming, hospitality, and live events under one roof. The venue expands on the success of Fortress Melbourne and transforms a commercial tenancy into a multi-layered entertainment environment. At its core is the purpose-built Alienware Arena, a 200-seat esports venue featuring retractable seating, a VIP mezzanine, professional broadcast facilities, and large-format digital screens that allow the space to shift between tournaments, live productions, corporate events, and public gatherings. 

Beyond the arena, the venue includes the Telstra Lounge with more than 50 gaming stations, themed hospitality spaces such as the fantasy-inspired Tavern and the futuristic 2315 Bar, arcade gaming zones, and content production facilities.

It has hosted major esports competitions, live broadcasts, community tournaments, and large-scale watch parties. One of its most notable recent events was the sold-out watch party for the 2025 League of Legends World Championship Final, which transformed the arena into a live viewing venue complete with large-format audiovisual production and themed fan experiences.

3. Butler University Esports Park, Indianapolis, United States

Opened in 2022, Butler University Esports Park is a purpose-built collegiate esports venue designed by Populous through the adaptive reuse of a former retail space within a campus parking structure in Indianapolis. Spanning approximately 7,500 square feet, the facility was conceived as a flexible environment that combines competitive gaming, broadcasting, education, and social interaction. The design centers on a modular gaming arena capable of accommodating up to 60 gaming stations, supported by a stage, broadcast and production suites, coworking areas, meeting rooms, a café, and outdoor gathering spaces.

A key feature is its “transformer” gaming stations, which can be easily reconfigured to support esports tournaments, lectures, industry events, and community programming.

Since opening, it has hosted major events including the NACE Starleague Grand Finals, one of the largest collegiate esports championships in the region, and the BIG EAST Esports Championships, which returned to the venue in 2024. The facility has also welcomed high-profile competitions such as the Rainbow Six Siege Invitational, reinforcing its role as a year-round destination for esports entertainment and live digital events.

4. Co-op Live, Manchester, United Kingdom

Opened in 2024, Co-op Live is the largest indoor entertainment arena in the United Kingdom and one of Populous’ most significant music-focused venue projects to date. Located within Manchester’s Etihad Campus, the 23,500-capacity arena was designed specifically around the live music experience. The architecture prioritizes acoustics, audience intimacy, and sightlines, with a unique bowl configuration that brings spectators closer to performers than in a conventional arena. A distinctive feature of the design is the large horseshoe-shaped lower bowl, which creates a spectacular concert environment and strengthens the connection between artists and audiences.

Premium hospitality spaces, lounges, and clubs are integrated throughout the venue, while advanced sound, lighting, and production infrastructure allow it to accommodate some of the world’s largest touring acts.

The arena was conceived as a next-generation entertainment destination capable of hosting concerts, comedy shows, awards ceremonies, and large-scale live productions. Since opening, Co-op Live has welcomed major international artists, including Bruce Springsteen, Olivia Rodrigo, Charli XCX, and the Eagles.

5. Localhost in Philly, Philadelphia, United States

Located within the Terminal Commerce Building in Philadelphia, Localhost in Philly was designed by Populous as a flagship esports venue and a prototype for future Localhost gaming centers across the United States. Occupying approximately 20,000 square feet on the ground floor of the 1.3-million-square-foot landmark building, the facility combines competitive gaming, content production, training, and community engagement within a single environment. “The Pit” is a large gaming floor equipped with 118 and 135 high-performance PC gaming stations that can accommodate both public play and tournament competition. 

A dedicated stage serves as the focal point for championship matches, while a centrally located event space can be reconfigured to host audiences ranging from intimate gatherings to several hundred spectators.

Beyond competition spaces, the venue also serves as the global headquarters of Nerd Street, the company behind the Localhost network. Designed to support everything from grassroots tournaments to nationally broadcast esports productions, the facility has hosted major competitive gaming events and content programming featured on platforms including ESPN and NBC Sports.

6. Jamsil Sports MICE Complex, Seoul, South Korea

The Jamsil Sports MICE Complex is an urban regeneration project, transforming the 35-hectare site of the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games into a mixed-use destination for sports, entertainment, conventions, and culture. Located along the Han River in Seoul’s Songpa District, the master plan reimagines the aging Olympic-era complex as a future-focused precinct that integrates venues, public spaces, hospitality, retail, and business functions. 

At the heart of the development are an 11,000-seat multipurpose arena designed to host concerts, esports competitions, and live entertainment events, a 33,500-seat baseball stadium, and a large convention and exhibition center spanning approximately 277,000 square meters. 

Sustainability is embedded throughout the design, with green roofs, landscaped public areas, building-integrated photovoltaics, and pedestrian-oriented connections. Populous also incorporated future mobility infrastructure, including provisions for urban air mobility, reflecting Seoul’s broader smart-city ambitions. Although the project is still under development, it has already become South Korea’s hub of civic investments, with completion targeted for the early 2030s.

7. National Baseball Hall of Fame Grandstand Theater, Cooperstown, United States

The National Baseball Hall of Fame Grandstand Theater is a purpose-built theater located within the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York. The theater serves as a gateway attraction that introduces visitors to the history and cultural significance of baseball through multimedia storytelling. The design combines architecture, technology, and exhibition design to create an engaging environment centered around a large-format curved screen, integrated audiovisual systems, and tiered seating that ensures clear sightlines from every position.

Populous approached the project as an experiential venue, using lighting, acoustics, and digital media to immerse audiences in baseball’s most memorable moments. Since opening, it has become a focal point of the Hall of Fame experience, welcoming thousands of visitors annually and serving as a venue for special presentations, educational programming, and Hall of Fame Weekend activities.

8. NBA 2K League Broadcast Arena, Indianapolis, United States

Opened in 2022, the NBA 2K League Broadcast Arena was designed as the permanent home of the NBA 2K League, the professional esports league jointly operated by the NBA and Take-Two Interactive. The design centers on a competition stage equipped with advanced lighting, audiovisual technology, and integrated broadcast infrastructure capable of supporting in-person audiences and global livestreams. Flexible seating arrangements allow the arena to accommodate league matches, championship events, fan experiences, and media productions, while production studios and control rooms are integrated into the venue’s operational framework.

The facility was designed as a year-round broadcast hub where competition and content creation occur simultaneously. The venue has hosted multiple NBA 2K League regular-season competitions, playoff matches, and championship broadcasts, serving as the centerpiece of the league’s live event ecosystem.

9. Toronto Performance Venue + Hotel, Toronto, Canada

The Toronto Performance Venue + Hotel is a proposed mixed-use entertainment destination planned for Exhibition Place on Toronto’s waterfront. Conceived as a new typology, the project centers on a 7,000-seat performance venue designed to host concerts, esports competitions, live productions, conventions, and corporate events. The architecture is defined by a sculptural form that integrates the venue and hotel into a single composition. A grand staircase leads visitors to an elevated public plaza overlooking Lake Ontario, while a green roof wraps over the venue, contributing to the project’s sustainability goals. Rising above the podium is a slender hotel tower offering panoramic views of the waterfront and downtown Toronto.

Planned as the future home of Toronto’s professional esports franchises, including Toronto Ultra and Toronto Defiant, the venue is expected to host more than 200 events annually, ranging from international esports tournaments and major concerts to awards shows and large-scale cultural gatherings.

10. G4 Studios and Offices, Burbank, United States

G4 Studios and Offices is a 67,000-square-foot adaptive reuse project that transformed a television studio building in Burbank, California, into a hybrid workplace, broadcast center, and esports facility for the relaunch of the G4 television network. The project reimagines the former TMZ and Inside Edition studios as a highly immersive environment where content creation, gaming, and workplace culture converge. The facility combines approximately 40,000 square feet of office space, 15,000 square feet of broadcast production areas, and dedicated esports training and gaming zones. 

Its design features floating conference rooms, neon accents, a 100-seat grandstand, gaming pods, custom artwork, and branded environments integrated throughout the building. Populous embedded the G4 identity into every aspect of the project, using graphic interventions and gaming-inspired visual elements.

The venue has hosted numerous G4 productions, live gaming competitions, creator events, and esports broadcasts. The project gained industry recognition in 2022 when it received the Gold Award for Best New Headquarters from the Los Angeles Business Journal.

From adaptive reuse and urban regeneration projects to purpose-built venues, these projects showcase the diverse ways Populous is designing contemporary entertainment. While their functions vary, they share a common focus on technology and audience experience, reflecting the evolving demands of a digitally connected world.

Image Credit: © Populous