1056 Chapel Street, New Haven, CT 06510 | T: 203.777.2515 | F: 203.787.2856 © Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects 2010

Location Tulsa, Oklahoma

Total Area 587,000 square feet

Seats 18,000

Date of Completion 2008

Client City of Tulsa

The BOK Center is an 18,000-seat multi-purpose sports and

entertainment venue that brings national and international events to

Tulsa and the surrounding region. With a flexible layout, it accommodates

sporting events such as hockey, arena football and NCAA basketball

tournaments, as well as concerts and other large public gatherings.

The BOK Center is a central element of “Vision 2025”, a long term

capital improvement and economic development program for Tulsa

County.

The design of the BOK Center reflects the client’s desire create a

bold and unique architectural image for Tulsa. Large, sweeping glass

and stainless steel walls spiral around the arena, dynamically tilting in

elevation and section. The architectural language resonates with Tulsa’s

Native American past, but the modern materials and scale look to the

future. Lobbies and entrances are situated where the walls overlap

and separate, pulling visitors into the spiraling space, directing their

attention to the event inside and the city outside. The large expanses of

glass allow the building to be light-filled during the day, and a glowing

beacon at night—the exterior lighting changes colors to reflect the

events within.

The BOK Center is located just west of downtown, with easy access

to public and private transportation. The arena is helping to revitalize

a neighborhood on the periphery of the central business district, and

new shops and cafes have opened in the surrounding blocks. To

build on this growth and celebrate Tulsa’s local culture, many of the

concessions in the BOK Center are satellites of local restaurants.

This spirit extends to the architecture as well, with the building’s metal

panels fabricated in Tulsa.

The arena incorporates site-specific artworks through a collaborative

effort between architect and artists. Artworks include “Dreamland”, a

multi-story painting of horses by the celebrated Tulsa and New York

City painter Joe Andoe; “Statum”, a cloudlike installation by sculptors

Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects

BOK Center

Kendall Buster and Siemon Allen; “Realms”, four 22-foot diameter

medallions embedded in the floors by Cherokee Nation father and son

Bill and Demos Glass; and “The Tallgrass Prairies”, 25 scenes of the

Tulsa prairie by local painter Mark Lewis.

Galleria rooftop Garden

1056 Chapel Street, New Haven, CT 06510 | T: 203.777.2515 | F: 203.787.2856 © Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects 2010

Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects

BOK Center