Top of the heap Chilean club’s venue plans

Article posted by Coliseum, January 7^th, 2021

Video: Cruzados (YouTube)

Plans have been unveiled by the Chilean top-flight football club Deportivo Universidad Católica (Cruzados) as regards redecorating its facility in Santiago.

Club Deportivo Universidad Católica is a professional football club based in Santiago, Chile (country in South America) which plays in the Primera División, the top flight of Chilean football. Universidad Católica is one of the most successful and popular Chilean football clubs and considered one of Chile’s ‘Big Three’.

The project has been developed by the Spanish company IDOM and seeks to transform the Universidad Católica stadium into the most futuristic and sustainable in the country which will be able to pack in a crowd of 20,000. Construction works are expected to begin during the first half of 2022.

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The repurposed venue will be double storied, and will boast roofed terraces and a new structure in the Livingstone grandstand, as well as 50 VIP boxes in the Livingstone and Fouillioux stands and high-level hospitality spaces.

Image: IDOM & Universidad Católica

‘Cruzados’ recently presented the design of its home facility – San Carlos Apoquindo Stadium – which will metamorphose it into an avant-garde arena in the country.

Among the main features, the new venue will enjoy four stands with roofs; stands that will also will have extended capacity thanks to the brand new, extended second floor.

Estadio San Carlos de Apoquindo is a football stadium in Las Condes in the metropolitan region of Santiago de Chile. It is used mostly for home matches stadium of the Chilean top club CD Universidad Católica which also owns the stadium. The stadium was built in 1988 and currently holds 14,118 people.

It will also include modern boxes located in the Livingstone and Fouillioux Grandstands, similar to those in European stadiums, VIP areas, commercial and service areas.

The new design will have a bigger area for the press, while fans will be able to enjoy a club museum area.

As part of the new design, the four lighting towers will be done away with and LED luminaires will be set up on the new roof, greatly reducing light pollution in the neighborhood.

The new roof will also create a better atmosphere inside the venue by amplifying its acoustics and at the same time reducing noise pollution, an issue raised by neighbors while discussing the venue plans.

Due to the deadlines related to obtaining the necessary legal authorizations, obtaining the financing required for the construction of the project and agreeing to the sale of the naming rights to a main sponsor, Cruzados expects that the works will be concluded during the second half of 2023, allowing the new venue to host some sports disciplines of the Pan American Games to be held in Santiago (capital of Chile) in October of that year.

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