Japanese football club Fukushima United FC has unveiled plans to build the country’s first recyclable all wooden stadium.
Fukushima United said the 5,000 seat stadium will embody the “phoenix” spirit engraved on the club’s emblem and be built as a symbol of hope and regeneration in a region still scarred by the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster.
The club said given the devastating damage caused, it will pursue a regenerative stadium that the country can be proud of and send a powerful message from Fukushima to the world for the future.
Fukushima United FC is a Japanese football club from Fukushima City, the capital of Fukushima Prefecture. They currently play in the J3 League, Japan’s third tier of professional football.
The club’s current home stadium is Toho Stadium in Fukushima City. The 6,464 cpacity stadium has a full 400 metre, nine lane athletics track around the playing surface. The pitch is natural grass and the stadium was opened in 1994.
Fukushima United FC said its new stadium will be constructed from locally sourced laminated wood and designed as a model for sustainable, community-driven architecture.
The stadium will be built so that every beam and joint can be dismantled and reused.
The concept draws on Shikinen Sengu, the centuries‑old tradition of ritually rebuilding Shinto shrines, reimagined here as cycles of resources, community and craftsmanship.
Alongside the build, the club and its design partner VUILD will launch reforestation programs, woodworking education and participatory construction — ensuring the skills and materials to maintain the venue regenerate alongside it.
VUILD’s design keeps the stadium human‑scaled, splitting it into four volumes with their own entrances rather than a single dominant stand.
The laminated timber framework is engineered for disassembly, reflecting a circular model where materials are cycled back into use instead of being discarded.
Above it, a striking roof of hyperbolic paraboloid shells made from small‑section timber members will span six metres and cantilever over the seating.
Suspended catenary timber elements form a triangular profile inspired by the steep thatched houses of Ōuchi‑juku, a historic post town in Fukushima.
The club said construction will be both a public event and an engineering project. Structural elements are designed to be raised collectively, echoing ceremonial timber‑raising rituals and turning the build into a shared act of renewal.
The design also responds to Fukushima’s basin climate with passive energy strategies: the roofline will shade spectators from the summer sun and shield them from winter winds, while façades are shaped to draw in breezes in warmer months and insulate in colder ones.
Collected rainwater will be filtered and reused, and snow stored in the winter will be used for air conditioning in the summer.
The club said in a statement, “We aim to reduce energy consumption through efforts to recycle natural energy, and to achieve energy self-sufficiency by storing renewable energy produced on-site in a battery system.
“Ultimately, we will aim to obtain the Living Building Challenge, the world’s highest level environmental index that evaluates sustainability and regenerative design.”
Fukushima’s project is part of a growing global movement to swap concrete and steel for engineered timber in major sports venues.
Last year Forest Green Rovers — described by FIFA as “the greenest football club on earth” — secured approval for the world’s first all‑timber professional football stadium in England.
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