Park-skirted Kunshan Stadium almost ready

Article posted by Coliseum, July 26^th, 2023

Image: gmp architects

Work on the Kunshan Football Stadium, which sits about 60 km to the West of Shanghai (China), is almost complete.

A ‘LinkedIn Post by gmp Architects’ stated that “To facilitate the playing of football in the near future, work began in May on preparing the subsoil for the playing field in the stadium grounds. Tons of sand was brought in and compacted. The turf was then laid. The turf, a climatically adapted mixture, was pre-cultivated in a field near the stadium and then laid in strips in the stadium.”

The under-construction Kunshan Football Stadium, about 60 kilometers from Shanghai (China), is oval in shape and will be able to host a maximum of 45,000 spectators.

The gmp Architects are an architectural practice that was founded in Hamburg (Germany) and has branches worldwide. With its generalist approach and more than 50 years of experience, they complete projects in dialog with their clients and the participating planning disciplines, at all scales and cultural contexts, covering all design phases and working on all continents. The range of the design firm’s projects extends from family residences to high-rise buildings, from stadiums to concert halls, from office buildings to bridges, and from door hardware to urban planning.

With holistic sustainability in mind, they aim to create new and refurbished architecture that is long-lasting and goes beyond temporary fashions, taking into account the global challenges and issues of urbanization, digitalization and mobility. In its designs they are committed to climate-aware construction in accordance with certified standards and to building in existing contexts.

The ‘LinkedIn Post by gmp Architects’ further stated that “In parallel with the work on the interior, lighting tests took place in the Spring to adjust the various lighting scenarios, from functional illumination of the tiers and pitch to atmospheric lighting of the roof and the façade membranes. The lighting concept was created together with Lichtvision Design (lighting consultant in Berlin, Germany). The football arena will provide space for 45,000 spectators. It is surrounded by a landscaped park. The idea is for the park to become an attractive recreation area for the locals over the coming years. The course of a natural river that runs across the site has been retained and will be supplemented by an artificial watercourse that encircles the stadium. A radial path system takes visitors to areas for sports, recreation and restaurants.”

The characteristic design of the façade is based on a fan-shaped construction, consisting of double concrete frames and elegant projecting lattice girders in the roof zone. Overall, the system of double axes includes 36 fields. The fairfaced in-situ concrete frames create a play between light and shadow and form expressive spaces. Transparent membranes on the façade and the roof enclose the solid grandstand structure and permit light to penetrate into the interior of the stadium.

The upper and lower tiers are accessed via an external bridge system which, in the case of an evacuation, allows spectators to reach the outside via the shortest possible route. This minimizes the circulation area and creates a wide open space beneath the projecting façade elements.

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