Project overview
Houston’s Reliant Stadium opened in 2002 as the NFL’s first retractable-roof stadium. Its 1.9 million square feet were designed to accommodate both the Houston Texans and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, bringing different field, rigging and environmental requirements into one building.
The stadium was known as NRG Stadium from 2014 before the Reliant name returned in August 2026. This free profile covers the original construction team and systems, then separates later roof work from that initial delivery. The original project’s contractors are not presented as appointments to a future replacement stadium.
Latest updates
Construction timeline, from announcement through delivery. Filed dates and future targets are labeled separately from confirmed events. Reviewed October 3, 2026.
March 9, 2000
Original constructionGroundbreaking starts the stadium build
The Texans’ historical record identifies this as the groundbreaking date for the approximately 30-month construction program.
October 2001
Structural milestoneStructure topped out
The team’s chronology records the topping-out milestone ahead of the 2002 opening.
August 24, 2002
Operational openingStadium opens
The opening date is recorded by the Houston Texans. The retractable roof established a first for an NFL stadium.
March 11, 2025
Contractor announcementBirdair announces roof-renewal contract
Birdair announced replacement of the retractable PTFE panels, with preparatory work beginning that February. Its published schedule separated major panels from finishing work later in 2026.
August 2026
Operating identityReliant name returns
The naming change announced by NRG and Reliant took effect for the Texans’ 25th season. Current team materials identify the venue as Reliant Stadium.
The original delivery team
Birdair’s project record identifies Manhattan/Beers (now Skanska) Construction JV as general contractor and Walter P Moore as structural engineer. The architectural team combined HOK Sport, now Populous, with Hermes Architects and Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam. The Texans’ history also identifies Manhattan and Skanska as builders; Beers was part of Skanska.
- General contractor: Manhattan / Beers (now Skanska) Construction JV
- Sports architect: HOK Sport (now Populous)
- Associated architects: Hermes Architects / Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam
- Structural engineer: Walter P Moore
- Mechanical / HVAC: Letsos Company
- Plumbing: Har-Con Corporation
- Electrical: Encompass Services
- Roof membrane: Birdair
Cooling an enclosed stadium bowl
In a 2002 construction interview, Letsos described installing 55 Trane air-handling units delivering approximately 13,000–14,000 tons of cooling, plus 2.2 million pounds of sheet metal. The system conditioned the bowl with the roof closed and maintained other interior spaces when it opened.
Har-Con handled plumbing, while a central plant built by Sempra Energy supplied hot and chilled water to the stadium and neighboring facilities. These are original-construction roles. The shared plant’s service area is wider than the stadium alone.
The mechanical work illustrates a central stadium challenge: accommodating large changes in occupancy and operating mode. Roof position, event setup and the demands of hospitality areas all affect how a building of this size is used.
The roof is both structure and operating equipment
Birdair’s original roof account describes PTFE-coated fiberglass membrane carried by steel supertrusses and reinforced-concrete columns. The roof can open or close in roughly ten minutes, allowing the venue to alternate between indoor and outdoor operation.
Populous designed the envelope to admit daylight through glass curtain walls and translucent roof material. The roof therefore contributes to more than weather protection: it affects light, sound and the relationship between the seating bowl and the playing area.
A later renewal program, not a second original build
Birdair returned with a roof-panel replacement contract announced in March 2025. Its scope included almost 300,000 square feet across the two retractable roof areas, with a phased installation strategy designed around continued stadium events.
The announcement targeted major panel work ahead of the June 2026 World Cup and described clamping, cables and minor steel work continuing later in 2026. Those were the published delivery targets; this profile does not treat the passage of those dates as proof that every item has been completed.
The construction implication is practical: access, lifting and weather protection must be planned around an operating venue. Confirmed closeout and future maintenance packages should be followed separately from the original 2002 contractor list.
Reading cost and capacity consistently
The Texans’ historical account gives an original stadium cost of $352 million. Broader project descriptions use figures around $450 million, including a Texas civil-engineering awards account. These numbers have different scope and accounting boundaries and should not be added together.
Capacity has also changed with configuration. The opening-era team history lists 69,500; Populous now describes approximately 72,200. This profile uses approximately 72,000 rather than presenting an event-specific maximum as a fixed seating count.
The stadium’s economic role extends across football, rodeo and other events. An impact estimate for the whole rodeo or park is not a standalone measure of stadium operations, so it should not be used interchangeably with one.
What to watch next
- Confirmed completion of the remaining roof-renewal work.
- Owner-approved improvement packages and their construction teams.
- Any future stadium proposal, budget or site decision, tracked separately from this operating venue.
