Las Vegas Ballpark

by | 16 Apr 2024 | Design, Sports Grounds, Stadiums

Las Vegas Ballpark

Vegas, Baby

 

 

BIG & HNTB

Las Vegas is the place where there are few limits to fantasy. That’s why the Las Vegas Ballpark fits right in.

Google Maps
The Couch by MVRDVPhoto: ©Daria Scagliola & Stijn Brakkee

The famed Las Vegas Strip will soon be the home of the new Las Vegas Ball­park for the Oakland A’s by archi­tec­ture firms Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) and HNTB. Once complete, the project will be the new home of Major League Baseball’s Oakland Athle­tics, and echo the vibrancy of the ‘Enter­tain­ment Capi­tal of the World,’ exuding an outdoor feel with pano­r­amic views of the city’s skyline.

The 33,000-capacity covered ball­park will sit on nine acres on Las Vegas Boule­vard between Tropi­cana Avenue and Reno Avenue. The expected opening date is spring 2028.

 The new Las Vegas Ballpark’s roof is accen­tuated by five over­lap­ping shells resembling base­ball penn­ants, paying homage to the sport. For players, these arched “penn­ants” will atte­nuate direct sunlight glare while welco­ming indi­rect natural light through nort­hern oriented clerestory windows. The domed ball­park is also desi­gned to feature the world’s largest cable net glass wall. The structure’s exte­rior metal clad­ding shim­mers in the natural daylight and reflects the surroun­ding Las Vegas lights at night.

The design repres­ents a capti­vating ball­park concept, seam­lessly blen­ding inno­va­tion and tech­no­logy with an enhanced fan expe­ri­ence. It is conceived in response to the unique culture and climate of the city. Five pennant arches enclose the ball­park — shading from the Nevada sun while opening to the soft daylight from the north. A giant window frames a maje­stic view of the life of The Strip and the iconic New York New York hotel skyline. All direct sunlight is blocked, while all the soft daylight is allowed to wash the field in natural light.

The resul­tant archi­tec­ture is like a sphe­rical arma­dillo — shaped by the local climate — while opening and invi­ting the life of The Strip to enter and explore. In the city of spec­tacle, the A’s ‘arma­dillo’ is desi­gned for passive shad­ing and natural light — the archi­tec­tural response to the Nevada climate gene­ra­ting a new kind of verna­cular icon in Vegas.

An elevated outdoor plaza connects to the bridges over Las Vegas and Tropi­cana Boule­vards, direc­ting fans to the ballpark’s main concourse, where a large glass atrium pulls the city into the venue. This entrance sequence will imme­dia­tely orient fans in the ball­park, allo­wing views of the entire field and seating bowl upon entry while opti­mi­zing wayfin­ding and circu­la­tion.

Secon­dary north and south entrances are marked by “boun­cing” arches to increase visitor acces­si­bi­lity and promote a connec­tion to the outdoors. Once inside, fans are met with bright, open atria, which will also serve as multi­pur­pose exhi­bi­tion spaces to show­case inter­na­tional and local artists.

The ball­park will be a climate-controlled, state-of-the-art faci­lity that will house a variety of events and guest expe­ri­ences. By opening up the roof struc­ture, the archi­tects aim to capture the energy of the iconic Las Vegas Strip and create a unique synergy between its events and the surroun­ding city. The new Las Vegas Ball­park  will push the boun­da­ries for enjoying base­ball and contri­bute to a more inter­ac­tive and spec­ta­cular urban expe­ri­ence in Las Vegas.

 Las Vegas is where the imagi­na­tion runs free, charac­te­rized by bespoke, one-of-a-kind expe­ri­ences. The A’s new ball­park will be filled with unique settings for the social inter­play between, sport, spec­tacle and entertain­ment.

The Couch by MVRDVPhoto: ©Daria Scagliola & Stijn Brakkee
The Couch by MVRDVPhoto: ©Daria Scagliola & Stijn Brakkee

Project data

Architects

BIG 
Bjarke Ingels, Daniel Sundlin, Leon Rost,  Aran Coakley, Frankie Sharpe, Jan Klaska, Ricardo Palma,  Ahmad Tabbakh, Alan Maedo, Bernardo Schuh­ma­cher, Catrina Nelson, Don Chen, Douglass Alli­good, Ema Baka­lova, Hongye Wu, Hudson Parris, Jeff Tao, Margaret Tyrpa, Matthew Lau, Paul Heberle, Pooya Aleda­vood, Sunghwan Um, Thomas McMur­trie, Yuza­buro Tanaka

HNTB 
Lanson Nichols, Brad Albers, Emily Louchart, Jeff Goode, Stephanie Schnei­de­reit, Bryan Rincon, Phil Perkins, Donovan Brook, Jack Swezy, Jimena Dorador, Robbie Powell

Client

Okland Athle­tics

Opening

2028

Address

Las Vegas Ball­park
USA — NV 89109

Visualisation

Negativ

Text

BIG

Video

Do you want more?

Sports grounds + stadia
Sports halls + arenas
Pools + well­ness
Outdoor
Design+ instal­la­tions
Schools + kinder­gar­tens

Your turn

Intro­duce yourself

Your stage

DO YOU WANT TO PUBLISH YOUR PROJECT OR PRODUCT?

My post

Rwanda Cricket Stadium

by | 13 Dec 2023 | Sports Grounds, Stadiums

Gahanga Cricket Stadium

Cricket and wedding

Light Earth Designs

This multi-award-winning project is more than just a cricket stadium — you can also get married here.

The Gahanga Cricket Stadium is primarily the work of the Rwanda Cricket Stadium Foundation, which raised the sum of 1.1 million euros required for its construction.

Google Maps
The Couch by MVRDVPhoto: ©Daria Scagliola & Stijn Brakkee

Cricket was barely played in Rwanda before the 1994 geno­cide. Now there are 7,000 players nati­on­wide, and the sport is playing a lead role in the healing process.

The inau­gu­ra­tion of Rwanda Cricket Stadium marks the end of a remar­kable six-year under­ta­king by the Rwanda Cricket Stadium Foun­da­tion who have raised the £1 million required to build the spec­ta­cular new home of Rwandan cricket

The Rwanda Cricket Stadium is desi­gned for long-term sustaina­bi­lity. The entire site is being cons­tructed to ensure signi­fi­cant carbon savings and sustainable water usage, it will incor­po­rate envi­ron­men­tally sensi­tive design, provide jobs for the local commu­nity, and ensure a revenue stream that will allow for the upkeep of the faci­lity and further invest­ment in the game.

The cons­truc­tion process used predo­mi­nantly local labour, inves­ting in the local commu­nity.

The cons­truc­tion process was mainly carried out using local labour.

The stadium is prima­rily thanks to the Rwanda Cricket Stadium Foun­da­tion, which raised the sum of 1.1 million euros required for the cons­truc­tion.

Architects

Light Earth Designs
Pioneer House, Chivers Way
Histon, Cambridge
Cambridge­shire
UK-CB24 9NL

Bauherr

Rwanda Cricket Stadium Foun­da­tion

The Couch by MVRDVPhoto: ©Daria Scagliola & Stijn Brakkee
The Couch by MVRDVPhoto: ©Daria Scagliola & Stijn Brakkee
The Couch by MVRDVPhoto: ©Daria Scagliola & Stijn Brakkee
The Couch by MVRDVPhoto: ©Daria Scagliola & Stijn Brakkee

This breathtaking venue now also serves as a stage for weddings, birthday parties, social events, company outings, shows and concerts.

The archi­tec­ture and engi­nee­ring awards winning venue ist more than just a cricket stadium. 

This breath­ta­king place serve as an event venue for diffe­rent events inclu­ding wedding, birthday parties, social games, corpo­rate away day, show or concert and other events. It also has Bar, Restau­rant and Coffee shop.

The new pavi­lion, which also serves as a restau­rant is a fanta­stic feat of engi­nee­ring, built using 66,000 hand­made tiles in layers without using concrete. The arched pavi­lion design repres­ents the fall of a boun­cing ball and spec­tator seating will be carved out of the earth to mimic the terraced farms on the steep Kigali Hills that provide a spec­ta­cular back­drop.

The buil­ding grows out of the cut soil banking that was formed as the pitch was levelled — thus beco­ming part of the land­scape. The banking creates a wonderful natural amphi­theatre with great views to the pitch and wetland valley beyond.

Whilst the language of the buil­ding speaks about progres­sion and dyna­mism through extreme struc­tural effi­ci­ency, the mate­rials speak of the natural, the hand made and the human. It a buil­ding made by Rwandans using Rwandan mate­rials.

The tiles are produced on site from local soil by low skilled and skilled locals – hydrau­li­cally pressed with a small addi­tion of cement and do not require firing. They are laid in layers onto a tempo­rary timber skeleton — again using a combi­na­tion of low and higher skilled local labour and span up to 16m.

Geogrid is added to give some seismic protec­tion, deve­loped by rese­arch in archi­tec­ture and engi­nee­ring at Cambridge Univer­sity. The shells are water­pro­ofed then topped with local broken granite (found ever­y­where across the country), blen­ding into the natural palate while the granite adds weight and stabi­lity.

The Couch by MVRDVPhoto: ©Daria Scagliola & Stijn Brakkee
The Couch by MVRDVPhoto: ©Daria Scagliola & Stijn Brakkee
The Couch by MVRDVPhoto: ©Daria Scagliola & Stijn Brakkee
The Couch by MVRDVPhoto: ©Daria Scagliola & Stijn Brakkee

Simple, effi­cient and thin concrete tables are inserted into the vaults, provi­ding space for the more enclosed func­tions the service areas, the chan­ging rooms, an office and a restau­rant. These tables are topped with natural Rwandan agro-waste­fired tiles made of commonly found wetland clay.

The open mezza­nines — a bar and a club­house — enjoy wonderful raised clear pano­r­amic views over the Oval and wetland valley beyond

Bricks are used to define edges and spaces — often laid in perfo­rate bond – allo­wing the breeze and light to filter through. These bricks are sourced from enter­prises set up by Swiss NGO SKAT Consul­ting, and are also low carbon agro-waste-fired bricks using high effi­ci­ency kilns, further redu­cing energy and carbon.

Waste stone from Rwandan granite floor and work­tops are used for floo­ring.

The plywood rectan­gles used to press the tiles are reused as coun­ter­tops while timber and plywood from the vault guide­work is made into joinery and doors, ensu­ring that a maximum of waste mate­rial goes into primary produc­tion. Local slate is confi­gured to allow rain water to permeate and infil­trate the soil.

Retai­ning walls are either local granite boulders or are hollow to encou­rage plan­ting.

Address

Gahanga Cricket Stadium
Unnamed Road
Rwanda

Opening

2017

The imperfections are celebrated — they are human and beautiful — and when combined with the layering of natural textures the building becomes imbues and celebrates this wonderful place.

The buil­ding grows out of the cut soil banking that was formed as the pitch was levelled — thus beco­ming part of the land­scape. The banking creates a wonderful natural amphi­theatre with great views to the pitch and wetland valley beyond.

Whilst the language of the buil­ding speaks about progres­sion and dyna­mism through extreme struc­tural effi­ci­ency, the mate­rials speak of the natural, the hand made and the human. It a buil­ding made by Rwandans using Rwandan mate­rials.

The imper­fec­tions are cele­brated — they are human and beau­tiful — and when combined with the laye­ring of natural textures the buil­ding becomes imbues and cele­brates this wonderful place.

Images

Light Earth Designs
Michael Ramage, Jona­than Gregson

Text

Johannes Bühl­be­cker
More Sports Media

Videos

Plans

Your turn.

Contact

Adresse More Sports Media Am Weit­kamp 17 D‑44795 Bochum Telefon +49 234 5466 0374 +49 172 4736 332 Mail contact@moresports.network

Social Media

Romelio Martínez Stadium

by | 6 Feb 2023 | Stadiums

Romelio Martínez Stadium

Cultural heritage, reloaded

Equipo Mazz­anti

The ideal venue for football and carnival.

On the occasion of hosting the Central American and Caribbean Games, the stadium was completely redesigned — into a multifunctional favourite place.

The Romelio Martínez Stadium is the current muni­cipal stadium in the city of Barran­quilla, Colombia, of greater anti­quity as the scene of profes­sional soccer in the city, and the old head­quar­ters of the most repre­sen­ta­tive Barran­quilla clubs in the Colom­bian first B cate­gory, declared an Asset of Cultural Inte­rest of national character (BIC).

Due to the fact that the stadium did not comply with the current norms to cele­brate sporting events, the patri­mo­nial tribune was restored, the field was correctly oriented accor­ding to FIFA recom­men­da­tions, suffi­cient areas were provided to cele­brate sporting events and the public space adja­cent to the stadium was reno­vated.
Google Maps

To accommodate a variety of uses while improving the stadium’s connection to the surrounding public space, the stands were divided into fragments.

In the proposal, the importance of the exis­ting buil­ding, repre­sen­ta­tive of an era of archi­tec­ture in Colombia, is reco­gnized, to propose a new distri­bu­tion to the inte­rior that allows both the public of the events and inte­rested visi­tors, to appre­ciate its archi­tec­ture.

Also, the imple­men­ta­tion of the playing field is desi­gned with proper north-south orien­ta­tion, with a slight incli­na­tion of 9 ° to the west for the correct visual viewers who are located in the north grand­stand, desig­ning the grand­stands with the stan­dards required by norm for sports scena­rios.

El Equipo Mazzanti have created a modern 11,000-seat football stadium — and a contemporary monument of multi-functionality.

Finally the topo­graphy resul­ting from the space released by the old stands, throws a height diffe­rence of nine meters between the highest and lowest part of the lot, the court being an inter­me­diate level between both, which is used to gene­rate blea­chers abroad of the stadium, areas for outdoor trai­ning and support areas such as shops that, added to new green areas, make it possible to inte­grate the public space with the stadium.

El Equipo Mazz­anti have created a modern 11,000-seat foot­ball stadium — and a contem­po­rary monu­ment of multi-func­tion­a­lity.

Project data

Architect

El Equipo Mazz­anti

User

Baran­quilla Fotbol Club

Physical address

Estadio Romelio Martínez
Cra. 46
Av. Olaya Herrera ##72–155
Barran­quilla, Atlán­tico
Kolum­bien

Opening

2018

Photograph

 A Construir S.A

Author

El Equipo Mazz­anti

© 

Design

Video

You may have more of this.

Social Media

Follow us!

Quzhou Stadium

by | 28 Nov 2022 | Sports Centres, Stadiums

The Quzhou Stadium 

Where does the landscape end?

MAD Archi­tects

The Quzhou stadium breaks away from conventional sports architecture — through its reference to the surrounding landscape. And through beauty.

Visitors here can decide where the landscape ends and the building begins.

Completed by MAD Archi­tects in the summer of 2022, Quzhou Stadium is the centre­piece of the almost seven-hectare Quzhou Sports Park in Zhejiang Province. Quzhou is a histo­rical city 400 km southwest of Shanghai.

We already presented the entire project in draft form in 2018.

Despite its considerable capa­city of 30,000 seats, the Quzhou Stadium blends in breath­ta­kingly with the surroun­ding land­scape – and opens up to the surroun­ding public space from almost every angle.

Visi­tors can decide for them­selves where the land­scape ends and the buil­ding begins. Behind each eleva­tion is a buil­ding which fits seam­lessly into its surroun­dings. The various hills and knolls are all man-made struc­tures which include trai­ning grounds, a sports hall, a swim­ming pool and a science and tech­no­logy museum.

The half-buried stadium is crowned by a white, crown-shaped roof struc­ture with a diameter of 250 m, which the Serge Ferrari Group covered with two layers of PTFE membranes.

Google Maps

With the translucent membrane material, the complex geometry of the widely stretched supporting structure can also easily be accomplished literally.

The roofs all have complex, double-curved surfaces. The canopy is supported by only nine drop points with a maximum span of 95 meters, so that the buil­ding “hovers” over the land­scape and offers framed perspec­tives of the city from multiple angles.

The 60 concrete columns supporting the stadium are made of exposed concrete slabs with wood grain. Despite the size of the shapes and mate­rials, this creates a feeling of warmth and texture.

The roof is made from steel, onto which a trans­lu­cent, light-emit­ting membrane mate­rial was wound. So the complex geometry of the widely stret­ched supporting struc­ture can also easily be accom­plished lite­rally.

The trans­lu­cent PTFE membrane made from synthetic polymer not only takes the weight off the monu­mental steel struc­ture, it also improves the acou­stics throug­hout the stadium. The upper surface of the canopy is made from a firmer PTFE membrane from Serge Ferrari Group, which prevents rain­water coming through.

The under­side of the struc­ture has been equipped with more than 40,800 m² of PTFE coated glass mesh fabric, also from Serge Ferrari Group, a PTFE membrane with fire resis­tance class A, which meets the stric­test fire safety stan­dards.

In addi­tion to its tech­nical quali­ties, this struc­ture also gives the project an enormous aesthetic appeal. The result is remi­nis­cent of a field of clouds gliding gently over the hills.

The mean­de­ring geometry conti­nues inside the stadium. The seats are arranged in waves and are in rela­tion to the surroun­ding land­scape, which is enhanced by the green tones of the bucket seats – and forms a beau­tiful contrast to the white roof struc­ture.

At the Quzhou Stadium, the pursuit of sustainability is also striking in terms of design.

Quzhou Stadium was desi­gned with some eye-catching aspects of sustaina­bi­lity in mind.

Large openings into the land­scape ensure that natural light can come into the parking garage and the entrance levels of the stadium. The entire stadium is desi­gned to absorb, store and seep rain­water. This also protects the buil­ding from exces­sive rain damage and leads to lower tempe­ra­ture fluc­tua­tions and lower energy consump­tion.

Apart from the spec­tator seats and the playing field, almost all the faci­li­ties are located under the surface of the earth.

In addi­tion, all the concrete mate­rials used on the cons­truc­tion site were produced on site, so the CO2 foot­print asso­ciated with the mate­rial trans­port was mini­mised during the entire cons­truc­tion process.

The Quzhou Stadium and the entire Quzhou Sports Park are moving away from conventional sports architecture.

The opening of the Quzhou Stadium marks the end of the first of two cons­truc­tion phases of the Quzhou Sports Park. Next, there will be a sports hall with 10,000 seats, a swim­ming pool (2,000 seats), a science and tech­no­logy museum, hotels, a youth centre and retail outlets.

The combi­na­tion of nature and archi­tec­ture, from the digging of large parts of the buil­ding to the roof membranes of Serge Ferrari, create a unique urban land­scape.

The Quzhou Stadium and the entire Quzhou Sports Park are moving away from conven­tional sports archi­tec­ture. Despite all the size and filigree character of the struc­tures and mate­rials, it is the refe­rence to the surroun­ding land­scape and the subtle inner beauty of the stadium which make it so excep­tional.

In the best possible sense.

Project data

Architect

MAD Archi­tects

Client

Quzhou West District Deve­lo­p­ment Committee
Quzhou Baoye Sports Cons­truc­tion and Opera­tion Co., Ltd

f

Dachmembran

Serge Ferrari Group
Auf der Kaiser­bitz 3
D — 51147 Köln

Physical address

2 Tiyuchang Rd
Kecheng District
Quzhou, Zhejiang,
China, 324003

Opening

2022

Photos

CreatAR Images ©MAD Archi­tect
Arch Exist ©MAD Archi­tectss
Aogvi­sion ©MAD Archi­tects

Author

Johannes Bühl­be­cker
More Sports Media

Videos

Plans

Subscribe to our

Social Media

Follow us!

Athletics running tracks

by | 17 Sep 2022 | Advertorials, Advertorials, Sports Grounds, Stadiums, Vorlagen

Athletic running tracks for every occasion

Fits everywhere

Conica

Some interesting facts and figures about synthetic running tracks, tartan tracks and temporary athletics running tracks.

MOST of the ATHLETICS FACILITIES FOR MAJOR INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS ARE BUILT IN STADIUMS, but SOMETIMES OUTSIDE AS WELL.

Athle­tics faci­li­ties offer suitable running tracks and sports surfaces for all the various disci­plines of athle­tics. The core of each faci­lity is the athle­tics running track. It encir­cles the pitch area in the stadium. In addi­tion, there are indi­vi­dual faci­li­ties in the stadium for the other disci­plines  – such as jumping, thro­wing and shot put.

Some­times track and field faci­li­ties are built for major inter­na­tional compe­ti­tions outside stadiums, for example in Zurich.

You can read all this and much more.

Is the athletics track really 400 m long?

It is always said that the track is 400 meters long. This is correct, but it only applies to the inside lane of the track. All other lanes are longer. The outer lane is 40 to 50 meters longer than the inner lane. On lane two, the diffe­rence is almost eight meters. With a lane width of 122 cm, the lanes differ by 2 x Pi x 122 cm = 7.67 meters.

Ther­e­fore, at compe­ti­tions, the athletes’ starting blocks are placed at diffe­rent loca­tions so that all runners have exactly 400 meters of track ahead of them.

However, it is not that accu­rate when it comes to  who starts where in every compe­ti­tion. In the 10,000-meter run, the runners gather for the start freely distri­buted on all eight lanes. After the start, they then try to quickly reach the inner lane and stay there if possible, because this results in valuable meters gained and ther­e­fore time.

Why do people actually run to the left?

It is believed that the origin of this goes back more than 200 years. In England, the first horse races were not held in stadiums, but on country roads. Because of the left-hand traffic in England, it was safer to let the horses run to the left so that they would not collide with onco­ming traffic. 

When there were finally proper horse racing tracks just for sport, people kept with the habit. These tracks were also used by runners in the begin­ning. Because of this,  running on the left became the norm. This later on became accepted world­wide.

Athletics facilities: Type A, B and C

The cons­truc­tion of outdoor athle­tics faci­li­ties is regu­lated in DIN 18035–1:2003–02, Part 1 “Sports grounds; outdoor faci­li­ties for games and athle­tics, plan­ning and dimen­sions”. Among other things, the DIN stan­dard distin­gu­ishes between running track types A, B and C. Depen­ding on how the faci­lity is used, it still requires an addi­tional World Athle­tics Class 1 or Class 2 certi­fi­cate.

For national and inter­na­tional athle­tics compe­ti­tions, a type A compe­ti­tion faci­lity is required. For regional and other major sporting events, type B is suffi­cient. For all other faci­li­ties that are not intended for high-perfor­mance sports (for example, for school level sports), type C is suffi­cient.

To host national and inter­na­tional track and field events, a Type A faci­lity requires World Athle­tics Class 2 certi­fi­ca­tion. This faci­lity has eight indi­vi­dual running tracks. Its length is at least 176.91 m, and its width is at least 93.08 m. The pitch in the center of the stadium must have an area of 109 x 73 m to meet the foot­ball field  stan­dard size of 105 m × 68 m.

In addi­tion, Type A has indi­vi­dual running tracks for sprin­ting, hurdles and stee­ple­chase, faci­li­ties for high jump and pole vault, long jump and triple jump, discus and hammer throw, javelin throw and shot put.

In the past, the tracks were made of red ashes (or clay). The first athle­tics tracks made of synthetic mate­rial only came later. These are tradi­tio­nally also called tartan tracks. The first synthetic running track was installed in 1968 in the Letzi­grund stadium in Zurich. Conica is one of the pioneers when it comes to synthetic tracks and has equipped plenty of renowned stadiums around the world.

Weltklasse Zurich
Special running tracks for special events

Some­times you need special running tracks and formats for special events – like for “Welt­klasse Zürich”, the last global athle­tics high­light of the 2022 season.

Welt­klasse Zürich was also the finale of the Wanda Diamond League, the most important global athle­tics event after the World Cham­pi­on­ships in Eugene and the Euro­pean Cham­pi­on­ships in Munich. Athletes achieved the follo­wing: 4 annual world best times, 6 meeting records, 1 Diamond League record, 16 season bests and 9 personal bests. 

The finals took place both in the Letzi­grund Stadium and on the Sech­se­läu­ten­platz, where in just two days, Swiss track specia­list Conica had built a high jump and a pole vault module along with its record-brea­king world’s longest mobile running track measu­ring 560m.

Conica also installed modules for the jumping compe­ti­tions.

The particularly big challenge on Sechseläutenplatz was that the track had to be removed smoothly and without residue right after the event. 

Six of the 32 compe­ti­tions (women’s and men’s 5,000m final, women’s pole vault and men’s high jump, women’s and men’s shot put) were moved from the stadium to down­town Zurich.

The parti­cu­larly big chall­enge on Sech­se­läu­ten­platz was that Conica’s usual process tech­nique – casting/pouring in place the running track surface – could not be used because the track had to be removed smoothly and without residue right after the event. 

For this reason, Conica used a spray-coated running track pre-produced on mats, which were then rolled out and fixed onto the Sech­se­läu­ten­platz pave­ment.  For the tight turns, speci­ally made inclined curve ramps  based on indoor faci­li­ties were produced, which offered the athletes optimal condi­tions for the best compe­ti­tion expe­ri­ence in the middle of the city.

Conica has been deve­lo­ping and manu­fac­tu­ring inno­va­tive seam­less floo­ring solu­tions based on poly­ure­thane and epoxy resins for sports, games, leisure as well as other areas for over 40 years. Conica is one of the world’s market leaders and inno­va­tion drivers in this field.

Project data

Athletics running tracks

Conica AG
Indus­trie­strasse 26
CH — 8207 Schaff­hausen

Photograph

Conica AG

Author

Johannes Bühl­be­cker
More Sports Media
(Adver­to­rial)

Locations

Welt­klasse Zürich
Sech­se­läu­ten­platz
CH — 8001 Zürich

Stadion Letzi­grund
Bade­n­er­strasse 500
CH — 8048 Zürich

Video

 

You may have more of this.

Social Media

Follow us!

Stadium 974

by | 9 Feb 2022 | Installations & Events, Installations & Events, Stadiums, Stadiums

Stadium 974 in Doha

Container becomes icon

Fenwick Iribarren Archi­tects

Probably the most innovative of the eight stadiums newly built for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar™.

Stadium 974 will not be rebuilt after the World Cup, but dismantled. That is new.

Stadium 974 stadium is one of the most inno­va­tive of the eight stadia for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ and is also planned to fully resolve the legacy issue. After the tour­na­ment it will be enti­rely dismantled and shipped to other loca­tions.

The idea of using ship­ping contai­ners, a trans­port module used in world commerce, enables the struc­ture as well as the stadium faci­li­ties, toilets, retail areas and prayer rooms to be unplugged,

disas­sem­bled and then shipped to other count­ries or distri­buted to other areas of Qatar.

The very first thought when confron­ting a white sheet of paper was to develop another iconic and amazing stadium design. However, the design team, formed with our office, and Schlaich Berger­mann & Part­ners as Struc­tural Engi­neers, and Hilson Moran as MEP Engi­neers, began from the very begin­ning to feel this was an oppor­tu­nity to develop some­thing never done before, a stadium which would finally resolve the legacy values for such an inter­na­tional event.
Google Maps

Stadium 974 wants to be the opposite of a “white elephant”, namely completely demountable and transportable.

So many times have count­ries deve­loped foot­ball stadia for a major event, whether a World Cup or the Olym­pics, which after­wards had no real economic or soci­ally sustainable legacy use. Stadia after major inter­na­tional events have been left to rot, as the massive costs of their upkeep

were not accounted for in any budgets due to the lack of a real econo­mic­ally sustainable legacy plan. Many such expen­sive and unde­r­used ‘white elephant’ struc­tures can be found in count­ries such as Greece, Russia, Brazil and South Africa.

 The need for the stadium to be dismounted and taken to other loca­tions is para­mount for the success of the idea. For this reason the archi­tects and engi­neers strove to estab­lish rational and cost-effec­tive cons­truc­tion methods, with as few parts as possible, essen­ti­ally by applying module elements.

Stadium 974, whose indus­trial design process ensures a fully FIFA-compliant venue, will host games up to the round of 16 stages of the World Cup. It has a tour­na­ment capa­city of 47,500 seats and is the only stadium in this or any past World Cup which has a total capa­city of 0 seats after the event.
974 contai­ners were installed to prepare the stadium for the World Cup.

Stadium 974 is located directly by the sea.This provides the opportunity to load and unload the stadium containers.

If a stadium is to be cost-effec­tive there needs to be a ratio­na­li­sa­tion of the struc­tural and engi­nee­ring systems. A system which is able to be repeated is essen­tial to achie­ving a cost-effec­tive project, allo­wing for both simple cons­truc­tion and simple and effec­tive decon­s­truc­tion.

The main idea for the stadium was to use stan­dar­dised ship­ping contai­ners as the prime ‘buil­ding blocks’.

Stadium 974 is located on a magni­fi­cent site close to the sea, by the Doha Corniche and Bay. It is situated on the east side of Doha, very close to the old airport. The site has direct access to the water, and hence the ability to load and unload the contai­ners of the stadium.

The entire stadium was built with only ten different modules.

This stadium requires two diffe­rent modular systems. The first is to estab­lish a grid column-and-beam struc­ture (Meccano concept) and the second is to have modular volumes for the stadium’s diffe­rent uses (Lego concept).

This solu­tion means the project is totally modular. The columns and beams are all desi­gned to be bolted toge­ther, allo­wing for easy assembly during cons­truc­tion; after the event the whole struc­ture can be unbolted, disas­sem­bled and trans­ported with great ease.

Every portion of the stadium is built using a regular and repe­ti­tive steel frame system. The straight steel members of the beams and columns arrive at the site in contai­ners or as bulk cargo. In most cases the base grid measures 9 m x 8.5 m in plan, except in the corners where the base grid is radial. In total, the entire stadium can be cons­tructed with just ten diffe­rent modules.

Stadium 974 could become a milestone in sports architecture for major events. Especially if we see it again at the next World Cup.

The whole stadium will be dismantled and stored in contai­ners when the World Cup event is over. The contai­ners are to be loaded onto a cargo ship and trans­ported to desti­na­tions with future sports infra­struc­ture demands. It would take appro­xi­m­ately three years from stadium disas­sembly to complete re-erec­tion of a fully opera­tive stadium at a new loca­tion. This includes the trans­por­ta­tion of contai­ners with all part kits and the assembly phase.

The stadium could thus be fully func­tional for any subse­quent major sport event such as the 2026 Asian or FIFA World Cup.

The indus­trial character of the contai­ners not only gives the stadium a truly spec­ta­cular “form follows func­tion” façade, the whole project could become a mile­stone in sports archi­tec­ture for major events. Let’s hope we see Stadium 974 again some­where else in the future.

Project data

Designer

Fenwick Iribarren Archi­tects
Schlaich Bergerman & Partner
Hilson  Moran Engi­neers

Client

Supreme Committee for
Legacy and Deli­very

Address

Stadium 974
7HQ8+JG2
QAT — Doha

Opening

2022

Photograph

© Fenwick Iribarren Archi­tects

Author

Fenwick Iribarren Archi­tects

© Fenwick Iribarren Architects

Photos

Videos

Please sign-up to our

Social Media

Follow us!

Estadio San Carlos de Apoquindo

by | 9 Feb 2021 | Design, Sports Grounds, Stadiums

Modern World

Estadio San Carlos de Apoquindo in Sant­iago

 

 

 

IDOM
”

Situation

The Univer­sidad Cató­lica Sports Club, founded in 1937, inau­gu­rated its current stadium in 1988, known as the San Carlos de Apoquindo Stadium.

After more than three decades of acti­vity, the club decided that it needed a reno­va­tion. For this reason it held a compe­ti­tion in which nine offices were presented, and the IDOM proposal was selected.

Google Maps

Importance

With this reno­va­tion, the manage­ment team of Cruzado intends to moder­nize the Stadium and its surroun­dings, making it a multi­pur­pose venue, which will be an archi­tec­tural land­mark for the town of Las Condes and the city of Sant­iago, provi­ding value and services to the Commu­nity, the perfect place to orga­nize high-level sporting events, while gene­ra­ting new income.

“The new stadium will be a quality archi­tec­tural icon for the commu­nity, visible from the envi­ron­ment and respectful of it, inspired by the tradi­tional mate­rials of Chilean archi­tec­ture while looking to the future of foot­ball in the country,” says César Azcá­rate.

Location

From an archi­tec­tural perspec­tive, the project is conceived in section due to its loca­tion at the foot of the Cordil­lera, on a slight slope and looking towards the city of Sant­iago.

For this, a main buil­ding is confi­gured, which is shown towards the city and which houses a large part of the hospi­ta­lity uses.

Volume

Starting from the current Stadium, anchored to the ground as if it were a Greek amphi­theater, the new needs, the new uses and the increase in capa­city, from 14,000 to 20,000 spec­ta­tors, gene­rates a volume that is perceived as unitary, light and elevated with respect to what exists.

In this sense, the use of wood as the main element in the façade and the roof struc­ture allows dialogue to be estab­lished between the tectonic and the light, while also being a sustainable resource, in line with the whole approach to the moder­niza­tion of the Stadium.

From being open to being closed

A conti­nuous boule­vard is desi­gned that allows access to all the upper part of the lower stands and that repres­ents the line that sepa­rates what is linked to the ground from what is elevated. The new volu­metric confi­gu­ra­tion will allow the stadium to go from being open to being closed cove­ring the stands, gene­ra­ting a better foot­ball atmo­sphere, better acou­stics and greater comfort for spec­ta­tors. The stadium will also be 7/365, econo­mic­ally sustainable and with a wide range of hospi­ta­lity acti­vi­ties.

Outlook

The cons­truc­tion works are sche­duled to begin during the first half of 2022 and end in the second half of 2023, allo­wing the new venue to host some sports events of the Pan American Games to be held in Sant­iago in October of that year.

We did this.

Project data

Architect

IDOM

Client

CD Univer­sidad Cató­lica

Physical address

Estadio San Carlos de Apoquindo
Circun­vala­ción Las Flores 13000
Las Condes
Región Metro­po­li­tana
Chile

Author

IDOM

© IDOM

Photos

Video

Contact

How can we be helpful?

Address
More Sports Media
Am Weit­kamp 17
D‑44795 Bochum

Phone
+49 234 5466 0374
+49 172 4736 332

Mail
contact@moresports.network

Court Philippe Chatrier

by | 6 Jan 2021 | Stadiums

No more rain

Court Phil­ippe Chatrier at Stade Roland Garros

Adver­to­rial

 

 

Serge Ferrari
”

Situation

The French Open at the Stade Roland Garros is one of the four most important tennis tour­na­ments world­wide. However, since it rains some­times even in Paris, there have always been game inter­rup­tions. This was the main reason why the main court (Court Phil­ippe Chatrier) was rebuilt for the 2020 edition and equipped with a retrac­table roof.

The new roof of the Phil­ippe-Chatrier Court consists of 11 steel wings, clad with Serge Ferrari’s Flex­light TX30 compo­site membrane. As a result, tour­na­ments will no longer be inter­rupted by bad weather or night­fall.

Google Maps

Tradition and modernity

The pres­ti­gious Roland-Garros complex, located in Western Paris, borde­ring the edge of the Bois de Boulogne, receives thou­sands of visi­tors every year. Built in 1928, the Phil­ippe-Chatrier Court is the venue’s main stadium.

The court has seen signi­fi­cant restruc­tu­ring and impro­ve­ment works since 2018 and it could sit 15,000 spec­ta­tors during last year’s tour­na­ment. Though the site has already been trans­formed drama­ti­cally, it did recently face further major changes: a retrac­table roof, made from steel and clad with a trans­lu­cent and water­proof fabric, is being added to the struc­ture.

Supporting structure

The collap­sible roof consists of 11 steel beams, desi­gned and manu­fac­tured by Italian company Cimolai. The beams, weig­hing 320 metric tonnes each, were deli­vered on the site in 7 sections and were assem­bled on the central aisle of Roland-Garros. They were then lifted onto the sliding rails above the Phil­ippe-Chatrier Court.

Once in place, the 11 ‘wings’ were clad with Flex­light TX30 cove­ring, manu­fac­tured by the company Tensa­form.

The roof now covers a total surface area equi­va­lent to 1 hectare (over 100,000 sq ft) and will require appro­xi­m­ately 15 minutes to be deployed into place. The structure’s steel blades will be covered with 15,000 sqm (over 161,000 sq ft) of Serge Ferrari’s Flex­light TX30, which ensures matches may go on undis­turbed in spite of bad weather or night­fall.

Challenge

The chall­enge was quite daun­ting: the project owner, the French Tennis Fede­ra­tion, wanted a solu­tion that could be fully deployed within mere minutes, that would allow the passage of natural light and would also deliver excel­lent acou­stic perfor­mance with the roof closed.

With the use of Alphalia Silent AW fabric inside the ‘wings’, the roof provides improved acou­stic perfor­mance during matches and in the event of rain­fall.

Visit Serge Ferrari

Membrane

The Flex­light TX30 membrane is among the latest gene­ra­tion of Serge Ferrari’s flexible compo­site mate­rials, speci­ally deve­loped to meet the highest stan­dards of mecha­nical dura­bi­lity and aesthe­tics for high-profile projects.

In addi­tion to the quali­ties of the group’s unique tech­no­logy, this membrane also boasts an ultra resistant coating formu­la­tion and Cross­link PVDF surface cross-linking treat­ment. The Cross­link formu­la­tion of this mate­rial repres­ents a major breakth­rough inspired by Epoxy-type cross-linking treat­ments, reserved for hard mate­rials until now.

Resistance

Its long-term resis­tance to oxida­tion and erosion due to climatic factors (UV, rain, snow) will allow the product to retain its struc­tural and visual quali­ties over decades.

The deve­lo­p­ment phase was carried out accor­ding to strin­gent metho­do­logy and approved by inter­na­tional experts on polymer photo-ageing. Despite ist light­weight, flexi­bi­lity and trans­lucency — quali­ties common to all flexible compo­site mate­rials -, the Flex­light TX30 membrane also provides unpar­al­leled dura­bi­lity for light­weight archi­tec­ture.

Serge Ferrari’s Précon­traint® tech­no­logy deli­vers perfect dimen­sional stabi­lity, offe­ring the possi­bi­lity to produce archi­tec­ture featuring unique shapes.

Acoustics

The new roof of the Court Phil­ippe Chatrier also offers excel­lent results in terms of acou­stics. This is, of course, due to the mate­rials that have been used.

Alphalia Silent AW is a compo­site fabric with high capa­city for acou­stic absorp­tion. It is perfect for deve­lo­ping inno­va­tive and crea­tive solu­tions to improve acou­stic comfort inside faci­li­ties inclu­ding public pools, water parks, restau­rants, thea­tres, gyms, etc. It absorbs 65% of ambient sounds with no addi­tional absorbant required and provides solar protec­tion and trans­lucency.

Creative and sustainable

Thanks to its excel­lent and lasting mecha­nical proper­ties, inclu­ding in wet and chlo­rine-heavy envi­ron­ments, the mate­rial is extre­mely durable without main­ten­ance. Alphalia Silent AW is flexible and compa­tible with complex shapes and long-span designs. It is also enti­rely prin­table. This flexible compo­site fabric was desi­gned speci­fi­cally for inno­va­tive acou­stic solu­tions.

The exten­sive reno­va­tion work at the Stade Roland Garros has been worth it. That much can defi­ni­tely be said after just one tour­na­ment. This is signi­fi­cantly due to the spec­ta­cular new roof of the Court Phil­ippe Chatrier.

Ever­y­thing works, and will for a long time.

We did this.

Project Data

Architect

Design
ACD Girardet & Asso­ciés

Roof:
DVVD — Ingé­nieurs — Archi­tectes — Desi­gners

Client

Fédé­ra­tion Fran­çaise de Tennis

Membrane

SERGE FERRARI GmbH
Auf der Kaiser­bitz 3
D — 51147 Köln

Physical address

Stade de Roland-Garros
2 Avenue Gordon Bennett
F — 75016 Paris

Opening

2020

Photograph

DVVD — Ingé­nieurs — Archi­tectes — Desi­gners

Author

Lucie Deguille

Videos

Contact

How can we be helpful?

Address
More Sports Media
Am Weit­kamp 17
D‑44795 Bochum

Phone
+49 234 5466 0374
+49 172 4736 332

Mail
contact@moresports.network

Stade Vincent Pascucci

by | 4 Dec 2020 | Stadiums

A warm identity

Stade Vincent Pascucci

 

 

 

Barthé­lémy Griño Archi­tectes
”

Situation

To the west of Paris, beyond the La Défense finan­cial district, the city of Nanterre has been making a concerted effort to rede­velop its aban­doned indus­trial proper­ties.

Bordered by a prison, an elec­trical plant and a highway, ever­y­thing would seem to indi­cate a poor future for this former indus­trial flood plain, except that it is at this point, near the highway over­pass, that a connec­tion could best be made between the city and the Seine.

The main sporting acti­vi­ties are fooball, rugby and archery.

Two lines

The low-density occu­pa­tion of the surroun­ding area neces­si­tated a large-scale orga­ni­sa­tion of the site as a whole.

The project consists of two lines that delineate the land­scape and incor­po­rate the various programs. In the axis of the over­pass, a walkway raised on top of an earth berm cuts along the edge of the site, atte­nua­ting the impact of the prison walls and offe­ring a direct path to the Seine.

Grandstands

The two grand­stands are set into its slope and the locker rooms and service spaces are located beneath.

A second line takes the form of an animated pali­sade that projects perpen­di­cular to the base of the first and extends along the route of the highway. It forms an enclo­sure for the bow and arrow range as well as the custodian’s living quar­ters and storage space.

Warm identity

In a coun­ter­point to the harsh­ness of the site, Douglas pine provides a warm unifying cons­truc­tive iden­tity to the project.

The pali­sade is clad with a tradi­tional system of vertical struts, backed by boards when inte­rior enclo­sure is neces­sary, and left open to form a screen around the bow-and-arrow range.

Materials

More struc­tu­rally complex, the grand­stand roofs are made up of a string of butterfly frames, hung out on a series of wooden masts and tied back by a succes­sion of galva­nised steel columns. Clad with clear poly­car­bo­nate, their regular bows form a lumi­nous and peren­nial canopy.

We did this.

Project data

Architect

Barthé­lémy Griño Archi­tectes
68 rue de la Folie Méri­court
F — 75011 Paris 

Client

Mairie de Nanterre

Project team

Land­scape archi­tect: Agence TER
Cons­truc­tion manage­ment: RFR

Physical address

Stade Vincent Pascucci
135 av de la Commune de Paris
F — 92000 Nanterre

Opening

2003

Photograph

Helene Binet
Bernard Tabou­reau
Phil­ippe Ruault
Bart­h­elemy-Grino-Archi­tectes

Author

Barthé­lémy Griño Archi­tectes

Design

Plans + Details

Contact

How can we be helpful?

Address
More Sports Media
Am Weit­kamp 17
D‑44795 Bochum

Phone
+49 234 5466 0374
+49 172 4736 332

Mail
contact@moresports.network

Stade Philippe Mahut

by | 4 Dec 2020 | Stadiums

Elegant

Stade Phil­ippe Mahut

 

 

 

Barthé­lémy Griño Archi­tectes
”

Situation

In 2008, the Fontaine­bleau local autho­rity laun­ched a compe­ti­tion to rede­velop the Faisan­derie sports grounds, situated on the edge of the forest of Fontaine­bleau. This rede­ve­lo­p­ment includes land­sca­ping and the rebuil­ding of the exis­ting stands between the two main sports grounds.

The new grand­stand, 75m long, would be inserted between two planted mounds. The awning that shel­ters the seating would be the only struc­ture to rise from the site.

Grandstand

The base of the grand­stand is made up of five lines of terraced seating facing the main foot­ball pitch, and a rear terrace that looks out over the second sports ground.

Beneath the seating and terrace, the ground floor level incor­po­rates chan­ging rooms, wash­rooms and storage. This base is made of rein­forced concrete left untreated to the exte­rior, painted or lined inside.

The presence of heated and wet rooms under­neath the terraced seating required parti­cular solu­tions to ensure water-tight­ness and thermal insu­la­tion, taking into conside­ra­tion the weight of spec­ta­tors over­head. At the centre of the terrace, a parti­ally glazed pavi­lion accom­mo­dates the stairs and lift lobby.

Construction

An awning covers the whole of the terrace and the terraced seating. The roof has two slopes conver­ging towards a valley with a central gutter along its entire length.

The roof is supported by a system of spre­a­ding ‘tree-like’ columns placed every 17m. These comprise three posts, which, above a height of 3m, branch into painted steel tubular bi-arti­cu­lated links. Each post system is trian­gu­lated to give trans­versal strength, and each gives six points of support to the roof.

Material

The roof’s struc­ture is in Douglas fir. It is composed of pairs of glulam beams of variable section, linked by thir­teen lines of purlins. Longi­tu­dinal bracing is provided by the central pavi­lion. The awning is covered by sheets of corru­gated poly­car­bo­nate.

Beneath this cover is a screen made of a dense grid of thick planks of Douglas fir. The screen filters direct sunlight and creates a play of light and reflec­tions on the wood, high­lighting the roof line.

Conclusion

Stade Phil­ippe Mahut was named after a French inter­na­tional (1956–2014), whose game was charac­te­rized by uncom­pro­mi­sing simpli­city — after all, he was a defender. Mahut began his career at the Racing Club de Fontaine­bleau and later became presi­dent of the club.

The archi­tec­ture of the Stade Phil­ippe Mahut is just as clear and uncom­pro­mi­sing. A solid base houses the neces­sary func­tions and ancil­lary rooms, clear and uncom­pli­cated. Above this a roof floats, which appears rather light and playful — roughly like the French offen­sive of the early 1980s led by Michel Platini and Jean Tigana.

Bien joué.

We did this.

Project data

Architect

Barthé­lémy Griño Archi­tectes
68 rue de la Folie Méri­court
F — 75011 Paris 

Client

Ville de Fontaine­bleau

Project team

Trag­werk: QL Inge­niería
Vermes­sung: María José González Vicente
Baulei­tung: José María López Llaquet
Bauun­ter­nehmen: TECOPSA

Physical address

Stade Phil­ippe Mahut
Route de l’Er­mi­tage
F — Fontaine­bleau

Opening

2016

Photograph

Arnaud Schel­straete

Author

Johannes Bühl­be­cker
More Sports Media

Design

Plans

Opening

Video

Contact

How can we be helpful?

Addess
More Sports Media
Am Weit­kamp 17
D‑44795 Bochum

Phone
+49 234 5466 0374
+49 172 4736 332

Mail
contact@moresports.network

Campus de Braak

by | 2 Dec 2020 | Design, Installations & Events, Stadiums

Next chapter

Campus de Braak in Helmond

 

 

 

Moederscheim Moonen
”

About

The muni­ci­pa­lity council of Helmond in The Nether­lands has given the green light for Campus de Braak in Helmond. The plans for the project were put on hold at the begin­ning of this year after a diffe­rence of opinion with parther profes­sional soccer club Helmond Sport about the program of requi­re­ments, the design and the busi­ness case.

Moedersch­eim­Moonen Archi­tects, Faul­k­ner­Browns and CULD were asked to team up to create a design tail­ored to the new brief. Now that the city council also supports the renewed plan, the project can restart.

Moederscheim Moonen

Organisation

In the design, the number of seats has been reduced to 3,600 places which creates more space for the busi­ness areas for Helmond Sport. Addi­tional space has also been created for the youth academy of the soccer club. With the colla­bo­ra­tion of the muni­ci­pa­lity of Helmond, the OMO school group and the other users, a new design has been deve­loped which is centered around multi-func­tion­a­lity.

In addi­tion, the exte­rior has also been deve­loped. Despite the fact that there are now only two large stands, the campus exudes a ‘stadium feeling’ through the dynamic verti­cality of the façades. In the case of expan­sion in the future, two new stands can be added in the current buil­ding enve­lope.

Faul­k­ner­Browns

Multi-functionality

Multi-func­tion­a­lity is the essence of the new campus. The campus will be home to Helmond Sport and the Helmond Prac­tice School. The design includes a NOC * NSF sports hall where the amateur foot­ball clubs Helmondia and Mulo will be accom­mo­dated. Addi­tio­nally, a new loca­tion for JvdI De Fysio­club will be created. Space for indi­vi­dual sports and rela­xa­tion is also incor­po­rated with the addi­tion of a running track and shared path for pede­strians and cyclists.

The new buil­ding is surrounded by a central corridor that connects all entry­ways with each other and the surroun­ding neigh­bor­hoods. Thanks to the connec­tion between the campus and the surroun­ding area, Campus de Braak will become an acces­sible meeting and recrea­tional envi­ron­ment for the entire city.

CULT

We did this.

Project data

Architect

Moeder­schein Moonen Archi­tects
Faul­k­ner­Browns
CULD

Client

Geme­ente Helmond

Physical address

Sport­park de Braak 5
NL — 5703 DX Helmond

Contact

What else can we do for you?

Address
More Sports Media
Am Weit­kamp 17
D‑44795 Bochum

Phone
+49 234 5466 0374
+49 172 4736 332

Mail
contact@moresports.network

Stadium Gunja

by | 2 Dec 2020 | Stadiums

Encounters everywhere

Stadium Gunja (Luka Šokčević Šaljapin)

 

 

 

GE+arhitekti
”

Situation

In 2014 major floods hit eastern Croatia causing, among casu­al­ties, cata­stro­phic damage to infra­struc­ture, inclu­ding foot­ball one. Croa­tian Foot­ball Fede­ra­tion toge­ther with FIFA and UEFA gathered funds for recon­s­truc­tion of five foot­ball fields toge­ther with a new stadium which, today, repres­ents a crown of the entire recon­s­truc­tion.

Parti­cular atten­tion in this valuable project was devoted to the cons­truc­tion of the new Stadium Gunja as the center of gathe­ring and inter­ac­tion of the local commu­nity and the deve­lo­p­ment of new gene­ra­tions of athletes.

Google Maps

Bricks

The Stadium Gunja is small by its size, but its cons­truc­tion is of great importance for the local commu­nity. It has gene­rated a compre­hen­sive design approach that thoroughly explored contex­tua­lism, revie­wing the typo­logy of small foot­ball stadiums, inte­gra­ting modern archi­tec­ture and design into a rural land­scape, making this faci­lity larger than its physical size.

The most promi­nent element of stadi­um’s visual iden­tity stands out in its main facade. It is made out of bricks and gives a monu­mental value given that the bricks origi­nate from the ruined houses destroyed by floods. By selec­ting between 12,000 preserved pieces, the best preserved were used through special re-built tech­no­logy.

Rural ambience

The visual iden­tity of Stadium Gunja arises from meeting the basic needs for performing sports func­tion. The mate­rials used are chosen in the spirit of this rudi­men­tary func­tion­a­lity which is why natural concrete prevails in both inte­rior and exte­rior.

The buil­ding fits in perfectly with the rural land­scape typical of Slavo­nija and Gunja village. It is the concept of the buil­ding that is charac­te­rized by fitting the buil­ding into the context of gree­nery and rural ambi­ence.

Visual value

GEplus Archi­tects have reco­gnized that Stadium Gunja could be more than a classic reno­va­tion of a sports infra­struc­ture in a small rural setting. From the begin­ning the buil­ding was considered as an important gathe­ring place for the local commu­nity, but also as an inte­res­ting story that could be embedded in the buil­ding as a memory. The initiator of the archi­tec­tural concept is the very cause of cons­truc­tion – a cata­stro­phic flood that destroyed the old stadium and which was mate­ria­lized through the usage of bricks from the demo­lished houses on the facades of the buil­ding. But there are other facts that have influenced the deve­lo­p­ment of the archi­tec­tural idea: this is the first stadium infra­struc­ture realized by Croa­tian Foot­ball Fede­ra­tion.

Also, the budget allowed only the most basic func­tions of the buil­ding to be met, leaving minimal space for visual appearance of the buil­ding. This required great archi­tec­tural crea­ti­vity and engi­nee­ring flexi­bi­lity in order to, besides func­tional features, give the buil­ding also a visual value. The finan­cial cons­traints have deprived the buil­ding of nume­rous tech­no­lo­gical elements, which are one of the charac­te­ristic of contem­po­rary objects and focus was brought on the archi­tec­ture and added value that it can bring to the local commu­nity.

Visit GE+

Rural context

The struc­ture of the buil­ding was mostly influenced by the rural context and the loca­tion of the buil­ding situated in a green envi­ron­ment that can almoust be described as a park venue charac­te­rized by alley of high linden planted along the edge of the parcel in parallel with the lines of a foot­ball field crea­ting a natural, green sceno­graphy seen from the stadium.

By desig­ning the stadium to raise out of the field, GEplus Archi­tects created symbiosis of archi­tec­ture and the envi­ron­ment as well as symbolic memory of the event created by embank­ment brakeage.

The element which balances the entire compo­si­tion of the buil­ding is desi­gned in a shape of a concrete canopy in ‘L’ form with some­what of a memo­rial character, which is addi­tio­nally empha­sized by the stadium inscrip­tion.

Spatial functionality

The stadium was built accor­ding to the needs for holding III. Croa­tian Foot­ball League matches. The inte­rior spaces are located one-sided along the L‑shaped corridor starting with the club office. Around the corner there are as follows: the ambu­lance room which has the possi­bi­lity of beco­ming a doping room; two locker rooms for players; locker room for judges and coaches and a tech­nical room. On the oppo­site corridor side, a cabinet system was desi­gned for storing sports equip­ment which uses the empty space beneath the stands. From the hallway there is a direct access to the foot­ball field.

Direct access to the foot­ball field is also possible from the outdoor storage located on the south side and hidden in the earth embank­ment. On the north side, as a part of the main facade, there is a food and beverage store and entrance to the public sani­tary faci­li­ties so they could be visible and acces­sible to the spec­ta­tors, but at the same time hidden by the vertical wall of the L canopy with the stadium name inscrip­tion so they would not disrupt the archi­tec­ture of the nort­hern facade. The loca­tion of the food and beverage store and entrance to the public sani­tary faci­li­ties allows for the parking space of the stadium to be trans­formed into a fair­ground or another ceremony space. Besides the 337 seats, there is a control room on the stands used during the foot­ball matches by the police and other offi­cials.

We did this.

Project data

Architect

GEplus arhi­tekti d.o.o.
Banja­včićeva 11
HR — 10 000 Zagreb

Client

Croa­tian Foot­ball Fede­ra­tion

Project team

Gorana Gilja­nović, Eugen Popović, Lea Kovač

Physical address

Stadion Luka Šokčević Šaljapi
HR — Gunja

Opening

2017

Photograph

GE+
Robert Leš

Author

GE+

Design

Plans

Contact

What else can we do for you?

Address
More Sports Media
Am Weit­kamp 17
D‑44795 Bochum

Phone
+49 234 5466 0374
+49 172 4736 332

Mail
contact@moresports.network

GDPR Cookie Consent with Real Cookie Banner