CITYPARK, the home of Major League Soccer’s St. Louis CITY SC, has earned the prestigious 2024 Prix Versailles World Title in the sports category.

Prix Versailles, established by UNESCO, honors the best contemporary architecture and design across various sectors, including sports venues, hotels, airports, and museums. On Monday, December 2, at UNESCO’s Paris headquarters, the Prix Versailles World Jury awarded CITYPARK the top honor for sports venues. Earlier this year, CITYPARK was shortlisted as one of the most beautiful sports venues globally.

“A critical tenet of St. Louis CITY SC’s mission is to see ourselves on the global stage, an exceptional club and neighbor, and help elevate the world’s view of St. Louis and the transformational role sporting venues can play in the community,” stated Lee Broughton, Chief Brand Architect of St. Louis CITY SC and a member of the ownership group. “It is with a great sense of pride that we thank the Prix Versailles World Jury for this incredible honor and our talented partners, HOK and Snow Kreilich, for their exceptional work in designing CITYPARK to be a reflection of our city’s most beloved attributes.”

Designed by HOK and Snow Kreilich Architects, CITYPARK embodies the strategic pillars of the CITY SC ownership group: connection, mobility, sport, training, and experience. The 22,500-seat stadium (soon to be named Energizer Park under a new naming rights agreement) anchors the largest urban professional sports campus in the U.S. and sets a new standard for Major League Soccer stadium development. The design fosters inclusivity and transparency, inviting the entire St. Louis community to engage in the soccer experience while providing a world-class fan experience. A flat portico, elegant canopy, and slender columns enhance the connection with the city.

“As an urban stadium, CITY is scaled and is porous to the street creating a more vibrant city and a match that feels like it is embedded in St. Louis,” explained Julie Snow, Founding Principal of Snow Kreilich Architects. “While the design was very much about the intensity of the sport, it was equally about the ability to build on the creative energy rising in the city, to come together and generate a new civic spirit shaping its future buildings, and, with its porosity, create a more vibrant city.”

“From the earliest stages of design and development, St. Louis CITY SC had a vision for a project that would be more than a stadium. This impressive recognition is a testament to the client’s unwavering commitment to bringing that vision to life,” said Chris DeVolder, Director of Sports + Recreation + Entertainment at HOK. “CITYPARK seamlessly balances district connectivity and the fan experience, contributing positively to downtown beyond game days and setting a new precedent for what a stadium can be.”

CITYPARK has already sparked broader community development, revitalizing downtown St. Louis and spurring growth. In its first year, the stadium generated over $168 million in economic impact, with more than 18% of visitors coming from outside the region. Its pedestrian-friendly design, which integrates seamlessly into the neighborhood, ensures accessibility at all four corners of the building. Every seat is within 120 feet of the pitch, set 40 feet below street level to match the scale of the district. The stadium’s design also reflects St. Louis’s iconic Gateway Arch, incorporating public art, such as Pillars of the Valley.

HOK and Snow Kreilich Architects accepted the award in person. Other World Titles in the sports category were awarded to təməsew̓txʷ (New Westminster, Canada) for the Special Prize for an Interior and the Olympic Aquatic Centre (Saint-Denis, France) for the Special Prize for an Exterior.

For a complete list of 2024 winners across all categories, along with the members of the World Jury, click here.

About HOK

HOK is a global collective of designers and thinkers dedicated to addressing the critical challenges of our time. Their Sports + Recreation + Entertainment practice specializes in creating world-class sports complexes, including arenas, stadiums, ballparks, and training facilities, which serve as vibrant centers of community and entertainment.

About Snow Kreilich Architects

Snow Kreilich Architects, based in Minneapolis, is a nationally recognized architectural practice focused on producing intelligent, well-conceived, and carefully detailed buildings. Their design approach is rooted in intensive investigation, ensuring each project meets multiple measures of design success.